


The Ties That Bind

by carefreejules



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Character Development, Character Study, Cover Art, Digital Art, F/M, Fanart, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Gen, Other, Retelling of Pokemon Sword & Shield, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:33:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 33
Words: 204,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25189516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carefreejules/pseuds/carefreejules
Summary: A sport that exemplified teamwork to take down the Dynamax Pokemon lurking in the depths of Power Spots scattered throughout the Wild Area - these were Max Raid Battles. A team by the name of Raid Prism, one of the popular teams to kick off the boom of Raid Battles, are formally invited to oversee the Gym Challenge as guest MCs due to their battle experience and contributions to Dynamax research.Having the strength to move on and recognize insecurities, was never easy. Juliet, the leader of Raid Prism, is haunted by nightmares that force her to confront the past that she had long turned her back from. This journey of self-reflection not only serves as a turning point for herself, but for the lives of others that weave and intersect with each other.[COMPLETE]
Relationships: Dande | Leon & Original Character(s), Dande | Leon/Original Character(s)
Comments: 132
Kudos: 123





	1. Broken Routine

**Author's Note:**

> Hello readers! It's been years since I've uploaded my writing and as a result I've been really invested in the world of Pokemon Sword and Shield and how the game deals with its characters. Even though the story isn't extraordinary, I think the game missed out on a lot of opportunities to flesh out characters even further to make the story more interesting - and I felt inspired to do just that. The overall fic does follow the chronological events of the Gym Challenge and so forth, but most of the focus is on what's going on behind the scenes for the existing characters and, of course, the new ones!
> 
> I've had this idea for a long time and I've spent the past few months writing out the whole thing so it's pretty much 80% finished and I hope you'll stay tune for all the updates! And since drawing is more my strong suit, each chapter will have a cover drawn by me and I'll even include some of my art ft. the original characters, but also canon characters, to make the experience more fun! 
> 
> Feel free to follow me @PigeonSenpai on Twitter and carefreejules on Tumblr if you want to say hi or show your support!
> 
> Finally, without further ado, please enjoy!

**Prologue – Broken Routine** ****

* * *

_In the middle of the void of darkness, a lone figure stands under a single spotlight as she feebly clutches the gleaming golden trophy in her small hands. She lifts up her head to smile at an audience who’s not even there. The single ray of light shuts off suddenly, enveloping her entire being into darkness._

_Cold._

_Lonely._

_Muffled voices grow louder and louder, clearer and coherent. Filling the empty dark void with a cacophony of the same demeaning phrases that repeat like a broken record. The girl shivers from the darkness. She falls to her knees, as if being weighed down by the words themselves._

“ **_You cheated.”_ **

“ **_You tricked opponents into feeling sorry for you.”_ **

“ **_You didn’t deserve to win.”_ **

_A tear falls. Then two. Until her eyes are blurred and overflowed with tears._

_Through the sea of self-deprecation that drowns her mind, she weakly reaches out into the darkness and says,_

“ _Help me.”_

* * *

**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**

The girl in the dream jolts up awake, older now, her heart and mind racing from the adrenaline of abruptly being pulled from her nightmare. Her skin feels hot from the warm summer air that breezed inside of her room from an open window, but at the same time feels cold from the lingering darkness that clings to her body, refusing to let go. She shivers. Her sleepy cobalt blue eyes drift around her room, as if confirming to herself of the present and not of the past that creeps into her dreams every now and again.

Just to be sure, she pushes the covers off of her and wanders over to her blue messenger bag to pull out her wallet and Trainer ID.

**Name:** Juliet

 **Birthday:** June 15

 **Home Region:** Hoenn – Lilycove City

That was enough for her. She lets out a sigh of relief and turns her head to the wide mirror in the bathroom. She tiredly regarded her medium length wavy black hair with various stray locks sticking up in random places, the subtle bags under her eyes, and the baggy Mudkip shirt she wore over shorts that didn’t match.

“Good morning,” Juliet greets her reflection. Something comes up from behind her and nudges his head against her ankle. She looks down to see her Shiny Trapinch groggily nuzzling his head against her legs, silently requesting mutual affection. Her smile is gentle as she scoops up the baby Ant Pit Pokemon in her arms and plants a soft kiss on his head. Seeing her beloved pet Trapinch was enough to make her forget the dream she had.

“’Morning to you too, Pistachio. I have to get ready for work so be good while I’m gone, OK?” She told him gently. Pistachio nods obediently and squirms out of her arms to waddle back to his bed.

As she went through her usual morning routine, her Rotom phone hovered in front of her to deliver her morning updates that mainly consisted of the weather, missed calls or new texts, and the spawns of Pokemon that were likely to appear in the Wild Area via Power Spots.

“Rotom, are there any strong Raids that are likely to appear today?”

“Bzzzt! There is likely going to be a Dragapult Raid in Axew’s Eye. But, it will be raining.”

“Dragapult huh...Ghost and Dragon, but being part dragon means it potentially has a large type coverage.” Juliet mused to herself as she tightened the bright yellow tie around the collar of her black and white plaid Battle Cafe uniform. After successfully taming the knots of her bed head, she pulled her hair back into a high ponytail and slipped on her thick framed navy glasses. She took one more look at herself in the mirror for any obvious imperfections, filled up Pistachio’s food bowl, before grabbing her messenger bag and heading out.

It was a hot day in Wyndon, but the breeze that brisked passed her face as she biked along the route to work made it bearable. She wasn’t going to let a dream put a damper on an otherwise, beautiful day. The smell of coffee, tea, and pastries did wonders to calm her nerves, and she could vent out any frustrations on Raids after work.

The Battle Cafe came into view, making her jump off her bike to walk the rest of the way there. She slipped to the back of the cafe, carefully parking and locking her bike to a light post, and welcomed the scent of freshly brewed coffee that hit her senses the moment she walked in.

“’Morning, Boss!” Juliet called. Her boss turned his head back and shot her an easy-going grin. Richard, who casually lets her call him ‘Boss’, is the Cafe Master of the Battle Cafe, so he was the one who battled customers while she was just a part-time Barista.

“Top of the morning, kiddo! Alcremie and Slurpuff are in tip-top shape today so I have a good feeling about my wins today!”

“Ohoho...Is that so? I'll be paying close attention, then.” Juliet tossed out her Sylveon, whom she named Hilda, to help around the cafe as per usual. Her Pokemon was also popular amongst regulars and children for being friendly and playful; sometimes even putting on a little show for customers while they were waiting for their drinks.

Juliet fell into her usual comfortable rhythm, taking and making orders that came in, overseeing battles that were requested by customers – it was clear that today was just going to be another normal day at work. Before she knew it, the end of her shift came and she swiftly changed out of her work uniform into her usual blue varsity jacket, ripped black shorts, and grey beret before taking off to the Wild Area. 

This routine was enough. She didn’t need anything more or less.

* * *

It was raining heavily over Axew’s Eye, but that didn’t stop Juliet from peeking into the stony well and tossing a Wishing Piece in its depths. She immediately took a step back as a huge pillar of energy shot up from the Power Spot and swirled ominously with power. A tell tale sign of a powerful Dynamax Raid. But she had travelled from region to region with her Pokemon and it wasn’t like this was her first time battling a powerful Raid by herself. She took off the soggy grey beret sitting on top of her soaked ebony hair before throwing her legs over the Power Spot and falling into its depths. She skillfully landed with her knees bent in a crouch to avoid impact in her ankles and rose to face the Dynamaxed Pokemon that was waiting for her.

A Dynamaxed Dragapult. As her Rotom predicted.

She hummed thoughtfully before sending out Hilda. Her Sylveon growled at the large Dragon Pokemon before her trainer summoned her back to be Dynamaxed. Hilda stood on an even playing field as Dragapult and unleashed Max Starfall as commanded. Dragapult recoiled and immediately put up it’s defences. The trainer didn’t expect things to go down hill so quickly from there. Breaking down its barrier wasn’t the hard part; but it was how many turns it took to attack and the range of the attacks, chipping off Sylveon’s health too quickly for comfort.

It became clear that this battle wasn’t feasible for one person.

Juliet clicked her tongue in defeat and returned her Pokemon before fleeing out of the Power Spot on her Flygon. Once the trainer was back on the surface, she called out her Sylveon to heal her up and reassured her of her efforts.

“It’s OK, Hilda. I was a little in over my head thinking I could do that Raid by myself. I might have to call the others.” She cooed while stroking her Sylveon. Hilda yipped sadly but nudged her face into her trainer’s hand. The trainer retired to her tent that she had set up a few feet away and as if on cue, her Rotom Phone started to ring.

“Hello?”

“ _Hey, Jules! You called saying you needed help with a Raid? Are you sure you should be doing raids in this weather?”_

“Well, I thought it would be smart since there are less trainers around and the rain has let up a bit. I could use some help, though. This one’s a tough one.” Juliet replied as she dried her hair off with a towel with her free hand.

“ _Then, let me help! Where are you?”_

“Axew’s Eye.”

“ _Ahh, so it must be a dragon Pokemon! Those are tough. I’ll be over in a jiffy!”_

“Thanks, Mary!”

After 20 minutes or so of waiting, Mary peeked her head into Juliet’s tent. Mary was a member of their Raid group and one of Juliet’s good friends that she met when travelling to Johto.

Unlike the Gym Challenge, where young aspiring trainers take on the Gyms across the Galar region in order to participate in the Champion Cup, there was another sport that was rising in popularity for those who were looking for a more thrill-seeking experience that involved teamwork. Throughout the Wild Area in Galar, there are countless rock wells called ‘Power Spots’ that hid a massive cavern of Dynamaxed Pokemon, all varying in rarity and strength. Sometimes the Pokemon lurking underneath will make their presence known from the beacons of light that emit from their wells. However, rarer Pokemon are more compelled by the power of Wishing Pieces that are thrown in. Wishing Stars were not easy to come by, being meteorites that fall from space, making them a strongly sought out item for Raid teams.

The Raid team that Juliet is the ‘leader’ of, which she named ‘ **Raid Prism** ’, is considered one of the most well-known teams due to the fact that they were one of the first teams that started the boom of Raids in the first place. The boom was unintentional and started from a few impromptu Raids they took on when they first landed in Galar over a year ago. Juliet jokingly recorded and streamed their battles for something to look back on, until a steady stream of supporters tuned in with each Raid they took on thereafter. Her group weren’t really doing it out of competitiveness to see who could catch the rarest Pokemon or amass a collection of Gigantamax Pokemon – they’ve always done it out of the excitement of just fighting strong Dynamaxed Pokemon as a team. Their efforts were eventually recognized by Professor Magnolia, who hired them as Field Researchers in order to uncover the secrets of the Dynamax Phenomenon from the various Pokemon that were caught in the Power Spots. 

Well, Field Researchers was a bit of a stretch since their job mostly just involved catching Pokemon that were requested of them. Because of this, their team wasn't blessed with the opportunity to hear the different theories that were thrown around over round tables about what was being researched, but it did pay well – well enough that the team decided to settle down in Galar for the time being in neighbouring flats in Wyndon.

But that hardly mattered at the moment..

Jules and Mary jumped into the Power Spot and, surprise surprise, were blown out from their defeat. Mary dusted off the wet dirt from her paint splattered patterned tights, wrung out rain water from her damp, curly brown hair, and grimaced down into the Power Spot.

“You weren’t kidding. I think this is the first Raid Pokemon I’ve encountered that could attack so many times and with so much range!”

“Do you think Tessu and Vanquil are available? I think we need the whole team for this one.”

The duo took a moment to call the two remaining members of their team and they arrived in record time. Tessu stared at the state of Mary and Juliet, who were soaked from the rain and their hair were also tousled from being blown out. The short haired trainer gritted her teeth.

“Yikes. How many attempts did you make?”

“Mary once, twice for me.” Juliet grumbled while pulling her hair out of their twin braids.

“Well, we’re all here now so let’s wrap this up, yeah?” Vanquil suggested while rolling his shoulders confidently.

* * *

“Why is this so hard?!” Vanquil yelled as he lay face first inside of Juliet’s tent. The others sat around him in defeat as they tiredly ate through their curry in hopes of adding fuel to their exhausted minds and bodies.

“Do you think we’ve finally been bested?” Tessu mumbled.

“I don’t think so. I think the best course of action is to work around how many times it can attack.” Juliet began.

“You mean like, figure out how to not get hit?”

“Exactly! Our Pokemon are strong enough to dish out damage and break down its barriers but the problem is stamina and it’s Dragon Darts attack.”

“Hmmm...Why don’t we use attacks that will make our Pokemon out of its range before attacking?” Mary thought out loud.

“Ohhhhh...like Fly or Dig? That could work! I also have a bunch of Guard Specs that could eliminate any debuffs our Pokemon get.” Jules turned to her Rotom Phone, which had been recording their conversation, and uploaded it to their team’s Pokegram. She always made a habit of recording as much of their Raids as possible for the purpose of helping and inspiring Raid teams. The comments were already flooding in with ‘you can do it!’ or ‘psh, it can’t be that hard’. Once they had finished their curry, they set out to the Power Spot in hopes that this would be the final attempt.

* * *

“This is working way better than I thought!” Juliet yelled as her Flygon, Tiki, flew towards the Dragapult to unleash Crunch, which broke through it’s barrier and weakened it. The Dragon Pokemon started to look worn out, signalling that it was almost down for the count. Mary’s Thievul dealt a final Night Slash before the Dragapult fell in defeat.

“Now, Jules!!” Vanquil shouted in her direction. Juliet quickly pulled out an Ultra Ball to Dynamax it and ran with it before jumping high and throwing it over her head with all of her might at the fallen Pokemon. The giant Ultra Ball opened and sucked in the Dragon Pokemon before landing on the ground with a heavy thud.

They all huddled together in anticipation as the oversized Ultra Ball shook slowly on the ground.

It shook once.

It shook twice.

It shook thrice.

The Raid team braced themselves for the Pokemon to break out, but the Ultra Ball glowed green and shrunk down to normal size. Vanquil threw a fist in the air and let out a loud whoop that echoed through the cavern while the other three sighed in relief and slumped to the ground in exhaustion. Vanquil went over to retrieve the caught Pokemon and helped them up so they could finally get out of there. But not before posting the recording of their battle and victory first.

The rain had begun to stop as they got out of the Power Spot one by one. Vanquil proudly twirled their Dragapult’s Ultra Ball on his finger before staring at it curiously. “What do you guys want to name him?”

“God.”

“My Worst Nightmare.”

“Hell?”

“Um...On second thought, I’ll leave it at that. I think we’re all a little traumatized right now.”

* * *

“Of course, Professor Magnolia. It was a hard one to catch but hopefully the Dragapult will offer something to your research. Yes. You’re welcome. Take care, OK? And say hi to Sonia for me. Good night!”

Juliet had never been this happy to be back in her flat before. She was soaked from head to toe from the rain and her body ached from over-exertion. Thank Arceus she didn’t have work the next day and she could spend the day sleeping in and lounging around. The trainer took a long, hot shower, threw on her so-called pajamas and was ready to knock out for the day.

Another day came and went. Another routine, unbroken and passing by peacefully-

**_RING RING RING RING_ **

Until her Rotom phone started ringing.

She whined exasperatedly and was ready to tell the telemarketers off upon taking a quick glance at the unfamiliar number. Her exhausted body screamed at her to ignore it in favour of sleep, but her thumb instinctively tapped the answer button anyway.

She tried to put on her friendliest, at work, voice for the person on the other line.

“Hello?”

“ _Good evening. Is this Miss Juliet?”_

A mature woman’s voice, she deduced.

“Yes, it is. Who is this?”

“ _My name is Oleana. I’m the secretary to Chairman Rose.”_


	2. New Job and Old Connections

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting the next chapter to compliment the launch of this fanfic in general but ideally I'll be updating chapters every week! Chapters will get progressively longer as the fanfic goes on!
> 
> Thanks for reading!

**Chapter 1: New Job and Old Connections**

* * *

_In the middle of the void of darkness, a lone figure stands under a single spotlight as she feebly clutches the gleaming golden trophy in her small hands. Except this time, she doesn’t raise her head to smile. She barely acknowledges the ghostly hands that run through her hair across her back, coddling her but with no warmth to speak of._

_Cold._

_Lonely._

_The muffled voices returned, growing louder and louder, clearer and coherent. Filling the empty dark void with a cacophony of empty compliments and reassurance. Or, were they actually empty?_

_She didn’t know. She didn’t know which voices to believe._

“ **_You did amazing!”_ **

**_“You’re so strong!”_ **

“ **_I want to be like you someday.”_ **

_Why wasn’t she happy? Why couldn’t she be happy? Who cares what other people thought? As long as there was someone who believed in her, that’s all she needed, right?_

**_Wasn’t making her parents proud, enough?_ **

* * *

**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**

Instead of jolting awake, Juliet’s eyes fluttered open, letting the few tears escape down her cheeks. Recalling the fragments of her dream made her heart uneasy, and her hands shaky. No matter how many times she saw those dreams, she could never get used to them. But, at the same time, she knew she couldn’t dwell on them. Ignoring them meant they would eventually go away, right?

Right.

Turning over to her Rotom phone, it reminded her of the important meeting with Oleana and Chairman Rose that was scheduled for her Raid team, from the call she got a few days ago. She couldn’t recall specific details of the call amidst her initial excitement but she knew that the opportunity given to them was an honour to receive. Thinking about where the job could lead them, filled her with the enthusiasm she needed to force herself out of bed and get dressed.

After sifting through her wardrobe for a good hour and a half, mentally cursing herself for not having many business or formal appropriate clothes options, Juliet settled on a blue blouse with black pants to wear for the meeting. Her hands instinctively went up to her hair to tie them into their usual braids, but perhaps she looked a bit more mature if she left her hair as is.

She didn’t really know what she was doing. Travelling all over the world didn’t leave many opportunities for her to dress up for the occasion.

“This should be fine.” She told herself.

“Trapinch?” Pistachio called out. She turned her head to the baby Pokemon, who waddled over to her feet and gazed up at her curiously. He probably was just as unfamiliar to her current attire as she was.

“Me and the others have an important meeting to go to. But, do you want to come with me? It must be boring being at home, but you have to be good, OK?”

“Trapinch!!”

* * *

“...This is a really long elevator.” Vanquil grumbled while tapping his foot impatiently. It certainly wasn’t an understatement. The Rose Tower stood over 1000 feet tall, overlooking all of Wyndon and beyond. It’s sleek, futuristic architectural design was fitting for Chairman Rose, the one in charge of the Pokemon League and president of a large business conglomerate known as Macro Cosmos. Even though they were inside of the Rose Tower and about to meet the man himself, it still didn’t _feel_ real.

The elevator finally slowed to a stop, and the doors finally opened to reveal Oleana and Chairman Rose waiting for them on the far side of the room. Rose stood up from his executive chair and beckoned them out of the elevator with a gentle grin.

“Come in, you four. No need to be shy.”

_Easier said than done from a man with as much power and money as one could only dream of._

Juliet was the first to exit and firmly shook his hand. “Good day, Chairman Rose. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise. The things you’re doing for Dynamax Research on top of contributing to tourism, I’m very grateful to see the Galar region thriving especially with the Gym Challenge fast approaching.” Rose added.

“Tourism?”

“Why, yes. With your group and many others making a sport and spectacle of Max Raid Battles, we’ve seen an increase in visitors from all over the world who come to visit the Wild Area for themselves.” Rose motioned them to sit on the leather couches, where tea and other refreshments were spread out in front of them.

“I’m glad! The Galar region is a beautiful region and the Wild Area is just one of the few reasons why we’re so happy to be living here. Right?” Juliet asked, turning her head to her friends, who were already treating themselves to the snacks offered to them.

“Right! We’ve only been living in Galar for over a year, but it’s been really fun doing Raids and inspiring trainers to go out into the wild to see what the region has to offer.” Tessu replied.

“We’ve also been looking forward to the Gym Challenge since in other regions, it’s not as hype up as it is here.” Vanquil added..

“Thank you for reaching out and giving us the opportunity to be co-hosts of the event. But, if I may ask, why us?” Mary asked with a tilt of her head.

“Well, on top of your group playing a part in Dynamax Research, I believe your group in particular will be able to offer different insights of battling since you all come from different regions, correct? That will surely make commentary more interesting and entertaining.” Rose then handed them each an application to fill out, along with an outline of the upcoming Gym Challenge.

“Please look over the application carefully and feel free to flip through the outline of Gym Challenge so you can familiarize yourselves on how we operate it.”

Juliet flipped through the application carefully, choosing to read over the contents first instead of filling it out right away. As the group fell into a comfortable silence and their noses were practically buried in the terms of service, they didn’t notice the person that came by to join them.

Even though he wore his signature fur lined red cape and his signature snap back on his head that never failed to turn people’s heads in his direction.

“Sorry I’m late! I took the wrong monorail on the way here.”

“It’s alright, Leon. Our new employees were just getting settled in.”

**_CLATTER_ **

_Leon._ That name made all of them freeze. Juliet didn’t know which one of them dropped their clipboard and pen, but as if in tune with her teammates, they all raised their heads at the same time to look at the legend himself.

**_Champion Leon._ **

“L-L-L-L-Leon!” Mary, Vanquil, and Tessu shot up from their seats like a group of Spoinks, eyes sparkling with endless awe and excitement. Juliet watched in amusement as her friends stumbled over questions and compliments of admiration, but...shouldn’t she be sharing in the glee as well?

At least, that’s what she thought. Watching the Champion soak up the praise being sent in his direction, and seeing him smile through each question with ease – something about the scene felt...oddly _familiar_. But not familiar enough where she could pinpoint when and where the feeling came from.

Her shoulders tensed when his burning golden gaze fell on her. She felt...uneasy being stared at, especially by someone with a strong, overwhelming aura as his. Was he sizing her up? No, it didn’t look like it. His head cocked to the side and it looked like his eyes were searching for something. Then, his eyes lit up in recognition and the wide smile he sent her was all teeth.

“J, right?”

_J?_ What kind of an alias was that? Juliet blinked confusingly. Her mind repeating that name over and over in her head, trying to pull up the memory of the name – if there was any at all.

J, J, _J…_

* * *

_“Right...Wait. What’s your name?”_

_“My name?”_

_“Yeah. You’re not wearing a name tag like your aunt is.”_

_“...Call me J.”_

_“J? That’s it?”_

_“Is that weird?”_

_“No! In that case, you can call me Lee.”_

* * *

“Lee.” She blurted out. The memory that flashed in her mind was hazy, but there was no mistaking the foggy images of her helping at her aunt’s inn in Lavaridge Town, along with a purple-haired teen around her age, who was staying at the inn for a vacation. She could barely make out his toothy smile and youthful spirit, that seeing the teen mature into the man in front of her, made the memory feel more distant than ever.

“You remember too. I’m glad! Do you think you can tell me your name now?” Leon joked and outstretched his hand to her. Juliet looked down at his hand, trying to recollect the sudden wave of memories that washed over her. Where did they come from? And why did it take until _now_ for her to remember them? She didn’t want to keep him hanging for long so she swallowed down the uncertainty before reaching out to shake his hand.

“It’s Juliet. Sorry for keeping you in the dark for so long-”

“Stooooooooooooop! Hold on!! You two know each other?!” Tessu interjected in between their handshake. Juliet scratched the side of her cheek and looked to the side sheepishly. ‘Know’ wasn’t the word she would use. Especially since it seemed like Leon had a better memory than her.

“Something like that. It felt like so long ago but, back when I used to help my aunt out at her inn, Leon and his family were on vacation and they stayed at the inn.”

“That’s right. I think I was around...16 maybe? I’ve never forgotten how hospitable your aunt was during our stay. Or how you almost beat me in a Pokemon battle.” The Champion laughed fondly at the memory.

She _did?_ Oh boy, she really did have a bad memory to forget something like that.

“You almost beat the _Champion of Galar_ in a _battle?!_ ” Vanquil gawked in disbelief. 

“And you didn’t put two and two together when we came to Galar?” Mary wondered, leaning against Juliet with a suspicious gleam in her eye. Juliet pushed back against her with a pout. Was now really the time to catch up?!

“Look, so much happened after that! I travelled around the world, met you three, came to Galar, etc. If I’m remembering correctly, Leon was a bit more scrawny and his hair was shorter back then.”

“I wasn’t that scrawny.” Leon retorted with a pout of his own.

“Well, it seems you’re all getting along better than I expected!” Rose’s chuckle snapped them back to the task at hand, making them pick up their neglected applications that were left on the ground.

That was...a bit embarrassing to say the least. But at the same time, reminiscing on one of the happier periods of her life, it brought back a youthful cheeriness that she hadn’t felt in years. It felt nostalgic. Refreshing even. Perhaps Leon had that effect on people. His positive and confident aura could pick people back up without needing to say a word.

No wonder he was so loved and looked up to like a King.

Even as the meeting continued without interruption, the Champion couldn’t help but steal a few glances in her direction. Anytime their gazes met, he’d shoot her a toothy grin, which she responded to with a sheepish smile. For what reason she didn’t know, but unlike earlier where she wanted to shrink from his gaze, his occasional glances felt comforting. 

Like a dandelion basking under the sun.

* * *

“You’re going to be working with Leon?!”

“Mind toning it down, Boss? The whole cafe doesn’t need to know.”

“But, I’m so jealous! If there’s one person I want to battle, it’s Leon!” Richard lamented dramatically as he stocked up the shelves and display cases with more pastries and coffee beans. Juliet leaned against the counter, allowing herself to recover from the end of the lunch rush and pouring herself a cup of tea.

“Maybe you’ll break the record for shortest Pokemon battle-” She said with a smug grin on her face. Her boss threw a dirty rag in her direction out of retaliation, but she caught it easily and tossed it into the sink. Still, she’d love to see such a battle.

“Are you sure you don’t want to take less shifts? Seems like a lot to juggle with being a Field Researcher and a co-host now,”

“It’ll be fine. There’s going to be gaps within each gym for challengers anyway especially since many of them are going to be exploring the Wild Area for the first time. Don’t worry about me, Boss.” Just as Richard opened his mouth to respond, the front door opened with the tell tale jingle of the bell above the door, signalling Juliet to bow politely to welcome the customer as she became accustomed to do as it was second nature.

“Welcome to the Battle Cafe! Are you interested-”

Juliet felt a sudden sense of unease wash over her. Black trench coat, a black baseball cap, dark sunglasses, and a white face mask. Did this man know it was the middle of _summer_ ? Or maybe it was a woman? She couldn’t tell how when their trench coat was consuming their body like a black hole. She didn’t _mean_ to judge someone on appearance alone, but even her boss wore a face that told her he was suspicious and nervous too. Swallowing her anxiety, she stuttered,

“A-Are you interested in battling the Cafe Master for a complimentary Casteliastone if you win? Or would you like to make a regular order?”

The man approached the counter, drawing curious eyes to him as he searched through his trench coat for what she presumed to be his wallet. Or worse-

“I’ll take a regular coffee. One milk, one sugar.”

A normal order. Juliet let out a breath of relief she didn’t know she was keeping in. “That will be 250 Pokedollars, please. Can I get a name for the order?”

“...Dande.”

“Thank you, Dande. Your order will be served to the left of you.” As he walked past after giving her an affirmative nod, she could have swore she saw a flash of familiar purple hair from under his hat. She hummed curiously, narrowing her eyes at him to see if he would break under her persistent stare. Even when his head turned away, she could see the beads of sweat that were streaking down his copper skin.

Was it from the heat or her glare? Maybe both.

When she set down his finished drink and he reached out to grab it, she leaned over the counter and whispered, “You know it’s summer, right Leon?”

The man let out an exasperated sigh and lowered his sunglasses enough so she could see his familiar golden eyes. “And here I thought I had a good disguise.”

“Sure, if you want people to think you’re a serial killer or a drug dealer. I think you’re drawing more attention with this disguise than if you didn’t wear it at all.”

Leon laughed nervously at the few weird looks he was getting from the other patrons of the cafe.

“I see your point.”

Juliet rolled her eyes and untied her apron from her waist. It wouldn’t be a good idea for him to go back out into the sweltering heat without cooling down a bit first. She was technically off the clock now, so she’d put him out of his misery. “My shift is done now, but I’ll be hanging around in the back for a bit before going out, Boss.”

She came out from behind from the counter and beckoned Leon to follow her through the ‘Employees Only’ door, where a blast of cool air washed over their bodies. It wasn’t like the cafe itself didn’t have AC, but with the amount of hot drinks that are served and the cool air that escapes through the front door, it was only somewhat cool. Once the door closed, the Champion practically ripped off the trench coat and face mask, sighing with contentment at the AC air cooling the sweat off his neck.

“Thanks, but am I allowed to be back here?”

“It’s fine. Some regular customers like talking to me and when they have bad days, we talk back here on my breaks. My boss already knows and is cool with it especially since they leave big tips.” Juliet looked at his discarded trench coat that he left on the floor. “Just don’t steal anything.”

“Of course not. But, it looks like I’ll have to look into a different disguise.” Leon muttered.

“OR, you could just wear seasonal appropriate clothes like a normal person.”

“I wish I could, but it’s hard going out when you get stopped so often by fans...Not that I mind, it’s just...”

“You just want to be treated like a regular civilian?” Juliet finished for him as she plopped herself down on one of the spare cafe chairs. Leon followed suit and rubbed the back of his neck, his gaze fixed to the floor as if reluctant to admit to himself that, yes, he just wanted to be treated like a normal person instead of someone on top of an impossibly high pedestal.

“Yeah, something like that.”

She didn’t want to push him to reveal anything to her, but she thought it was a fitting opportunity to catch up with Leon in hopes of filling in the missing pieces of her foggy memory. She folded her arms over the table and looked at him with a carefree grin.

“So, how’s your brother? He was pretty small the last time I saw him.”

“He’s doing great! I’m actually going to surprise him and his best friend with their starter Pokemon next week along with endorsement letters for the Gym Challenge by yours truly.” His hesitant demeanour vanished, replaced with bright optimism from talking about his younger brother.

“Oho, looking to dethrone his older brother, huh?” Juliet teased lightly.

“It’s always been a dream of his and I’m excited to see how strong he’ll become. This year’s Gym Challenge is shaping up to be a game changer, I can feel it. Which means I have to train thrice as hard!” The Champion flexed his muscles for added flair, making the barista snort in her hand.

This was the Leon that everyone knew. The Undefeated Champion who answered the calls of anyone who dared challenge him. The Undefeated Champion who pushed himself to the limit, so challengers in turn, could push themselves. It was a wonder how he had so much determination, the courage to reach new heights and be one of the strongest of them all.

Strength...Something Juliet wished she had or at least, the bravery to acknowledge the strength she did have. What was it like? To believe in yourself and have the power to instill courage in everyone else? These were questions she couldn’t ask him, at least not right now.

Whatever the answers to those questions were, she did know one thing – seeing the Champion of Galar give it his all for his family, friends, and fans, to push the boundaries and prove to everyone what he was made of,

She was going to do the same.

Then, hopefully one day, she’ll be able to look at herself in the mirror and say,

“ _I’m strong and I’m proud of myself.”_

“So, you’ve moved to Galar, huh?” Leon noted after taking a sip from his coffee. 

“Yup. That’s partially thanks to Professor Magnolia for hiring my team as Field Researchers after seeing how capable we are in Max Raids.” It was a humble brag, but a brag nonetheless, and she’ll always feel thankful for the opportunity. 

“Chairman Rose filled me in about that and I couldn’t help but watch some of your Raids afterwards. They’re a lot different from competitive battling, but you guys look like you’re having a lot of fun and I’ve learned a lot from just watching.” Leon pulled out his Rotom phone and opened up the recent Raid they did against the Dragapult. 

Ah.

The Dragapult they ended up naming Dragon Lord, much to Magnolia’s amusement.

“This is probably my favourite Raid your team did. As a proud owner of a Dragapult myself, they’re pretty resilient to deal with.”

“You can say that again. Dragon Darts is such a pain.”

“Heh. Viable move when you’re the one using it, though.” Leon’s eye then wandered around the staff room of the Battle Cafe, skimming through the shelves of coffee beans and other stock items. “I guess it doesn’t really surprise me that you’re working here too. You’ve always been a hard worker.”

Juliet grinned gently. He really paid attention to little details about people, huh?

“I thought it would be good to get a side-job to get to know the locals since we didn’t know anyone upon moving here. Ease ourselves into Galar society, you know?”

“And, how’s that working out?”

“Pretty much settled in at this point! Though, I’m still on the fence about using Galarian slang every day like ‘lad’ or ‘mate’...” She grimaced. “...It sounds wrong when I say it.”

“Pft! Of all the things to struggle with. Come on, it can’t be that bad. Try it out on me.” Leon egged her on teasingly, casually leaning his cheek on a propped up hand. 

Seriously? 

Juliet stiffened considerably and her face looked like she sucked on 50 lemons from how scrunched up it was. “H-Hey, mate. H-How’s it going…?”

…

The Champion stifled a snort in his hand, but he couldn’t exactly hide the chuckles that followed right after. He had forgotten how funny and silly she was, enjoying the moment of carefree laughter despite how disapprovingly she glared at him. “I think you should stick with what you’re used to.”

“Haha, laugh it up.”

They hadn’t realized how long they were spending just talking. Getting each other up to speed about what the other had been doing, sharing stories about their travels, talking about their Pokemon – there were no shortages of things to talk about when each conversation jumped from topic to topic, neither Leon or Juliet losing interest in each other's stories.

Only the sound of a cup shattering to the ground could cut through their conversation. Their heads whipped around to see Richard with his jaw dropped, and a broken cup of tea by his feet.

“You were talking to Champion Leon this entire time and didn’t invite me?!”


	3. Let the Battle Begin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 (technically 3) is here! I hope you enjoy refs of Raid Prism at the end of the chapter that I drew! Feel free to leave a kudos when you reach the end and leave a comment if you have any questions!

**Chapter 2: Let the Battle Begin**

__

* * *

_n the middle of the void of darkness, a lone figure stands under a single spotlight. Except that she’s not alone. A hand reaches out and grabs her wrist, startling the girl from her lonely thoughts. The hand belonged to a boy, around her age. His uninhibited toothy grin and cheery golden eyes that he showed just for her, made her smile just as brightly back._

_Warm._

_Friend._

_The darkness suddenly lit up with an ocean of stars, filling her heart with awe, wonder, and wishes that she hoped the stars could grant for her. The boy suddenly broke out into a run, tugging her wrist and bringing her along with him._

_She stumbled a bit, but pulled herself back up to catch up to him. He let go of her wrist, seeing her keep up with him as they ran side by side._

_They didn’t know where they were running to, or where they were going, but the endless path of stars that lit up both of their worlds was the only guide they needed._

* * *

**_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP_ **

Warm. Her body felt...warm. Warmer than usual. Even through the blaring and deafening sound of her alarm, she wanted to sink further into the comfort of her duvet covers. That dream was...very different from the usual.

A pleasant difference.

She didn’t feel confined or chained down by loneliness. The sea of stars of her dream opened up her world of possibilities, showering her heart with carefree wishes. The boy in her dreams...Did she see a similar sight with him before? Were their wishes and dreams the same, making the stars align so they could run together?

If only she could remember what his dreams were-

**_RING RING RING RING_ **

Juliet, for once, wanted to dwell on her dreams longer, but it seemed like the world was pulling her back to reality. She blindly reached for her Rotom phone that she hid under her pillow and sleepily spoke in the receiver.

“Hello-”

“Jules!!! Where are you?! The train is going to leave in 15 minutes!!”

Train? 15 minutes?

Oh **_shit._ **

Juliet sprang up from her bed in a frenzy, darting to her bathroom to get ready as quickly as she could. She made a good call by packing up her things the night before, but even so, it wasn’t like her to be late for anything. Once she was sufficiently ready, she scooped up Pistachio from his bed, grabbed her suitcase and ran out the door in five minutes flat.

Somehow, she made it to Wyndon Station with two minutes to spare, her heart pounding in her ears that she didn’t notice her team calling out to her.

“Sorry, sorry! But, I’m here now, right?” Juliet huffed while taking generous gulps of air. Arceus, perhaps she should squeeze in a bit of cardio if a sprint took this much out of her.

“You’ve never been late to anything, though. You’re usually the first one to arrive before the scheduled time. Are you feeling OK?” Mary asked, eyes filled with concern. Their leader waved her hand in defence.

“I’m feeling great, actually! Minus the running part.”

“Still, don’t push yourself. The Opening Ceremony for the Gym Challenge is today and it wouldn’t do well if our leader wasn’t feeling up to it.”

The day had finally come. The annual Gym Challenge would finally be underway and then the Champion Cup right after. First day of the job, and the Raid Team had to be in Motostoke for rehearsals before the real thing kicked off in the evening. The thrill wouldn’t quite hit them until they stepped foot inside of the stadium for the very first time. They eagerly boarded the train headed to Motostoke, feeling the anticipation fill up in their chests as they watched the train pull out of the station until Wyndon was far off into the distance.

It was strange. As they watched the scenery pass by and change from the windows, they all felt like they were travelling to a brand new place like they’ve done during their travels together. The places they were going to visit over the course of the Gym Challenge were far from new, but it felt like they were a part of something bigger.

Something _significant._

That feeling only seemed to grow when the steam coming from the cogs of Motostoke finally came into view, and the group marvelled at the banners and streamers that decorated the train station and all over the town.

It felt like the whole city came to life when they stepped out of the train station. People were crowded all over the streets, lined up in front of stalls selling official Gym Challenge merchandise. Some children were even dressed up as their favourite gym leaders. It hadn’t even started but the festive spirit was already in high gear.

“So this is what Galar is like during the Gym Challenge…” Tessu marveled in awe.

“Want me to ask one of those kids where they got their Raihan hoodie from so we can get one in your size?” Juliet nudged her elbow teasingly at Mary. Mary pouted with embarrassment and nudged back.

“What about you? I bet you want Leon’s cape.”

“That gaudy thing? No thanks.”

“Alright, ladies. Let’s try to navigate through this crowd so we can get to the stadium.” Vanquil suggested, already squeezing through the waves of people that walked through the congested streets.

The line up to the stadium was unsurprisingly long. Luckily one of the staff members of the stadium recognized them immediately and ushered them to the back entrance, away from the prying eyes of attendees who recognized them.

“Did you hear people whispering about us in the line?” Tessu alerted.

“Yeah. We did sort of hint to them of a big announcement on Pokegram. They must have put two and two together from seeing us here.” Vanquil replied back.

“I’m getting a bit nervous now…” Mary muttered.

“Well, you better put on a brave face because we’re about to see how many seats there are in the stadium.”

From concrete to astroturf, that field of the stadium stretched out wide in front of them, a preview of the sheer scale of the event and battles that would take place. Without the seats filled to the brim with roaring fans, they couldn’t help but feel small in such a wide open space.

Juliet couldn’t help but wander over to the centre of the field; the centre of the action. What was it like to stand on this field, with thousands of eyes fixated on your every move and command? Gyms in other regions didn’t have the same glamour or spectacle for the League as Galar did. Would it be more challenging because of that? Or would the cheers of support push challengers to their limit, to the point where they feel strong enough that they can take on the world?

Perhaps that was why challengers needed to be endorsed before they could take on the League – to acknowledge the determination and will to be the best.

“Jules!! We’re going to go over rehearsals now!!” Tessu shouted across the field.

“Coming!”

* * *

“And, that’s basically the gist of the Opening Ceremonies. Don’t worry about having to memorize anything since the cameras aren’t on us very often. Any questions?”

“I do. Why is the Dark Gym Leader, Piers, absent from the script?” Vanquil asked. The main host, Phil, crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat contemplatively.

“Ahh, he won’t make it today. He’s also a bit of a hard nut to crack. His Gym is the only one where you can’t Dynamax Pokemon. Every year Chairman Rose asks him if he wants to build a gym closer to a Power Spot, but the guy always turns down the offer.”

“Now that you mention it, we haven’t really visited Spikemuth before, right?”

“I passed by it once and it looks kind of...sketchy.” Juliet added while flipping through the script again for the 20th time. The town didn’t look very welcoming, for lack of a better word. Dark alleys, neon signs and lighting everywhere – it was the textbook definition of a place that people should avoid at all costs. But, it did have a certain aesthetic to it that lent itself well to being the location of the Dark-type Gym. And the fact that the Gym leader himself didn’t seem interested in Dynamax, it made the whole place exude a rebellious spirit.

Still, she wouldn’t want to visit there alone.

“But, you have to admit – there’s something kind of admirable about a Gym Leader who chooses to battle normally.” Tessu thought out loud.

“That’s true. He’s clearly a Gym Leader for a reason so he’s probably tough.” Phil agreed before getting up from his chair. “Even though Piers isn’t here, why don’t we go say hi to the other Gym Leaders before rehearsal starts?”

“They’re here?!” Mary squeaked.

“Of course! Follow me!”

Following Phil down the hall, they were already greeted by the Grass-type Gym Leader, Milo, who was chatting with Nessa outside in the hall. The farmer greeted the approaching group with a gentle smile and waved at them.

“Phil! It’s good to see you again. And who do you have there with you?”

“Likewise, Milo. These are my co-hosts! With each Gym Challenge getting bigger and popular as the years go on, I’m going to need some help so Chairman Rose hired these four to help me.”

“Is that so? It’s nice to meet you four. I’m Milo, the first Gym Leader and I specialize in Grass-type Pokemon.” Milo gestured to Nessa, who turned to face the group and smiled kindly at them.

“This is Nessa. The second Gym Leader who specializes in Water-type Pokemon.”

“It’s a pleasure. Don’t hesitate to ask us any questions if you have any, OK?” Nessa assured.

Milo and Nessa. The first two hurdles of the Gym Challenge. The farmer was exactly how everyone described him as. Gentle, laid-back, and had a refreshing aura that made you feel relaxed in his presence. Nessa, on the other hand, had a confident air around her that was a compliment to her beauty. Juliet had heard rumours of their rivalry, but Milo didn’t strike her as someone who responded to competitiveness as Nessa would. But for two Gym Leaders who looked and acted almost like polar opposites, they seemed to have a common ground.

“We will! Thank you, Nessa, Milo.” Juliet replied back.

“What’s going on over here?” A sharp voice interrupted. They all turned their heads to see the (tall) Dragon-type Gym Leader make his way over to him with his Rotom phone floating around him, as if ready to take a photo at any opportune time. His relaxed cyan eyes regarded them casually until his eyebrows raised in recognition at the Raid Team.

“Hey, I recognize you four! You’re the talk of the town when it comes to Max Raid Battles, right? What was your team called...Raid Prism, I think?”

As expected from the Gym Leader with the biggest online, and even real life presence. Literally and figuratively. He had a massive following on both Pokegram and Chatoter, where he often posts photos of his Pokemon or of himself. Especially himself. One might think he has an ego the size of a Wailord, but based on the tone of how he addressed their team, Raihan sounded humble and honest.

“That’s right! Wow, to be recognized by the great Raihan himself...” Vanquil chuckled bashfully.

“I’m no stranger to what’s trending online. I’ve seen a few of your recorded battles and I think anyone would be impressed by the things your team pulls off!” Raihan commanded his Rotom phone to float a little higher so he and Raid Prism were all in frame for the camera. “Let’s commemorate this first meeting with a selfie, yeah?”

“Mary, step out from behind me. You’re not in frame.” Tessu giggled, gently pushing the brunette aside so she wasn’t just timidly poking her head for the camera. Raihan looked at Mary from the camera screen and shot her a lazy smile.

“No need to be camera shy. I don’t bite.”

“Those teeth of yours beg to differ.” Juliet joked.

“Very funny. On the count of 3, say ‘Goomy’. 1, 2, 3, Goomy!”

“Goomy!”. 

* * *

“And last but certainly not least, those who overcome all of these acclaimed Gym Leaders will have the honour of partaking in the Champion’s Cup – the final hurdle to see who will be the one to challenge Leon, the Undefeated Champion!” Rose rehearsed into the empty stadium.

“Annnnnnd, he’s not even here.” Tessu snickered away from her mic. Phil snorted and leaned into his microphone to offer a bit of humorous ad lib.

“The person you’re trying to reach is currently unavailable. Please leave a message after the tone.”

Some of the Gym Leaders out on the field doubled over in laughter as Rose rolled his eyes in amusement.

“That concludes the Opening Ceremony of the Gym Challenge. I wish all the challengers the best of luck on their journey and I hope to see you all again at the Champion Cup in Wyndon Stadium!”

“Wooooooooooooooo!” Raid Prism cheered into their mics while clapping their hands for makeshift applause. Once Rose and the Gym Leaders walked off of the field, they turned off their mics and let out a collective sigh of relief. It was a pretty straight-forward job and they were reading off of a script, but knowing that they would be talking over a stadium filled with thousands of people made their stomachs sink in anxiety. Especially knowing their fans would be watching them too.

“And, that’s the end of our rehearsal run. Good work, guys!” Phil complimented with a cheery grin, until he noticed the lack of response and tense expressions on their faces. “Whoa, are you guys OK?”

“Y-Yeah, I think the nervousness for the real thing is setting in.” Vanquil noted shakily.

“Don’t be nervous! Remember, everyone in those seats is here to have a good time. They’re not going to care how ‘professional’ you are – have fun with it and the audience will feel it too.”

“You’re right...Thanks, Phil.” Juliet thanked him. It wouldn’t do good for them to feed on each others’ anxiety, prompting her to relax in her seat to meditate and reflect as Phil went over some tweaks and adjustments to their performance. Mary needs to speak with confidence, Vanquil doesn’t need to project into the mic, Tessu needs to slow down, and she needs to talk a bit less – a reasonable fix, she thought, and something that she really needed to take to heart outside of work.

Suddenly the door to the broadcast room swung wide open, revealing an out-of-breath Leon, who was clutching on the door knob with his upper body hunched over. The poor guy looked like he just sprinted a mile.

“Easy there, Champion. Good to see you’ve finally made it.” Phil joked before tossing him a water bottle. The Champion stood upright in time to catch it, uncapping it and chugging the whole thing down in one go.

And then he realized which room he barged into.

“O-Oh, I thought this was the break room.” Leon stammered, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Well, we’re about to head there now. Pizza should be here by now.” Upon hearing that, Juliet’s stomach began to growl, making her flush and look away from the heads that turned into her direction.

“...I didn’t eat breakfast, OK?” She briskly walked out of the door, almost missing the amused smirk that Leon wore on his face as she walked past him. He chuckled, catching up to her pace until he was walking beside her.

“Looks like I’m not the only one with a habit that hasn’t changed.” The Champion mentioned casually. Juliet blinked and looked at him questionably, until something within her triggered a familiar feeling that reminded her of what he was talking about. He had one hell of a memory. 

She envied him. 

“That was the only time I fainted. I’m surprised you even remembered.”

“Well, I was the one who caught you before you hit the ground.”

“You did? I think I remember my aunt scolding me for not taking better care of myself..Though, I can see her feeling bad for making a guest look out for me.” Thinking back, she faintly recall there being a stuck up family staying at the inn who were constantly demanding room service, or massages, or amenities. But, everything that happened after felt foggy in her mind.

_Why?_

But, the feeling of familiarity was _there._

“I’d like to think I was more than just a ‘guest’ at that point.” Leon added with a chuckle.

“I suppose, but you have to admit, that whole thing of not telling each other our names was strange.” Even if she was the one who started it. She had her reasons and she was going to tell him one day. She owed him that much, even if it _stung_ just thinking about it.

“It was a little strange, but I played along anyway. I figured you had your reasons and you don’t have to tell me why. If anything, I...kind of benefited from the alias too.” He revealed, a nostalgic yet far-off look in his golden eyes. Hearing that made her perk up, cobalt blue eyes meeting his gold with interest.

Guess she wasn’t the only one with a mountain of secrets. And even though she couldn’t unearth what was hiding in his eyes, she felt that they would tell each other in due time. But they had their respective jobs to do and if there’s a trait that they both shared, it was to keep private matters away from work.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Rose began, his voice booming through the filled stadium of ecstatic fans, hot spot lights, and colourful fireworks that lit up the stadium like a grand stage.

"I am Rose, chairman of the Pokémon League! I know that everyone gathered here...” He pointed to the various Rotom drones that were whizzing around him. "And everyone watching from home, have all been waiting for this big moment! It is my pleasure to announce that finally— the Galar region Gym Challenge will now begin!"

The collective screams and cheers were _deafening_ , and it felt like the stadium shook from excitement.

“We’ve made some exciting changes to this year’s Gym Challenge and we’ve even invited some very special guests that will surely make this challenge the most exciting one year yet! Allow me to introduce one of the top Max Raid teams of the Galar Region, Raid Prism!” The Chairman raised his arms towards the jumbotron screen behind him, unveiling Raid Prism’s four pointed star logo before the screen turned over to reveal the four of them in the broadcast room, waving to the camera with wide smiles on their faces.

“Good evening, Galar!!” Juliet greeted into the microphone. “It’s an honour to be here co-hosting for this year’s Gym Challenge. To all of our fans who are in the stands or at home watching, thank you for being here! And for those who don’t know us, my name is Juliet,”

“I’m Mary!”

“I’m Tessu!”

“And I’m Vanquil!”

“And we’re...” They connected their peace signs together to recreate their logo according to their respective colours. “Raid Prism!”

They weren’t expecting the chorus of cheers from the stands, or even those who switched their light sticks to their colours. It made them feel equally flattered, but perhaps even a bit embarrassed too. It’s not like they were well known enough by every day people to be recognized on the streets – so it was unknown to them how they would be approached. This moment dashed most of the worries that they had.

“Now, some of you are probably wondering, ‘who?’, and to that I say, fair enough.” Juliet joked. She was so _relieved_ that a good amount of people in the audience had laughed at her ad lib. “Max Raids are becoming a popular pastime, and even sport, here in the Galar region, and I suggest you either follow us and all the other teams on Pokegram, to see what all the rage is about. But enough about us – let’s kick things off by introducing the acclaimed Gym Leaders of Galar!”

The main lights of the stadium turned off, only leaving a single bright spot light on to shine down on each Gym Leader, along with the endless stretch of light sticks that decorated the stadium like stars.

“Let’s welcome the first gym leader - the fighting farmer! Here’s the Grass-type expert, Milo!” Phil announced. Green fireworks shot through the air as Milo walked onto the stadium, waving to the sea of green glow sticks that were on just for him. One by one, the Gym Leaders made their grand entrance onto the field, all of them standing in a line which resulted in a flurry of colourful fireworks exploding over their heads.

“Unfortunately, we’re missing one, but...These are the Gym Leaders that we in the Galar region are proud to call our own!" Rose proclaimed proudly. “You may have noticed something different this year though, as instead of one Gym Leader per Gym, we’ve included both Gym Leaders for their respective Gyms. To make things more challenging and to push our challengers to the absolute limit, you’ll have to face Bea and Allister in the fourth Gym, and Gordie and Melony in the sixth Gym! Consider it preparation for when you’ll face off Raihan, the master of double battles and the final hurdle of the Gym Challenge.”

“And once trainers have conquered all eight gyms and collected all eight badges,” Juliet began.

“They will have to put their skills to the test for the greatest challenge of them all,” Tessu followed.

“The Champion Cup is where the true battle begins,” Mary added.

“Only the most worthy will have the honour of challenging the greatest Champion in history!” Vanquil ended, giving a signalling nod to Phil and the tech crew.

“He who holds the honour of Champion for the 13th year in a row, please welcome your Champion, the King of Kings, Leon!!” Phil announced with a flourish. The centre of the stadium sparked with confetti and smoke, revealing Leon in all of his majestic glory once the smoke cleared. The crowd went absolutely wild, men and women alike screaming at the top of their lungs for their Champion, and children waving their light sticks wildly as they jumped out of their seats. He flashed his cape around before striking his signature pose towards the night sky, sending a final grand explosive firework into the heavens.

“A few words for our challengers, Leon?” Rose asked. Leon turned to the challengers that stood on the opposite side of the field from him and the Gym Leaders. His eyes wandered over to each of them, scoping out the young trainers who aimed to knock the crown off of his head. He shot a quick smile to Hop, who waved eagerly at him when their eyes met. And then there was his best friend, a short haired brunette girl who nodded confidently when his eyes fell on her.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all, face to face, in this setting, but keep in mind that only one of you will get to face me on the battlefield. That being said, I expect great things from all of you and your Pokemon. Strengthen your bonds with your Pokemon, believe in them so they will believe in you, and each of you can soar to greater heights! I look forward to seeing which one of you will stand on the other side of the field at Wyndon Stadium for the Champion Cup!”

“That concludes the Opening Ceremony of the Gym Challenge. I wish all the challengers the best of luck on their journey and I hope to see you all again at the Champion Cup!” Rose concluded, followed by a few more bursts of fireworks.

And thus, the Gym Challenge finally begins...

* * *

**Character refs of Raid Prism**

Left to right: Mary, Juliet, Tessu, and Vanquil


	4. The First Step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gym Challenge finally begins! Raid Prism have been invited to partake in a variety show as a way to promote the event along with the Gyms involved to encourage tourism for the Galar region! While they're there, they also learn about the significance of the geoglyph in Turffield from Sonia.

**Chapter 3: The First Step**

****

* * *

“Great job, you guys! That was even better than rehearsals!” Phil praised as he delivered hi-fives to each of them. The four slumped in their seats, feeling the adrenaline as a result from the spectacle simmering down in their systems. The event was nothing short of magical thanks to all the pizazz and fireworks, but it was certainly draining for their first day.

“Haha, I’m not surprised that you guys are tired. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.” Phil gathered up their scripts, straightened them out, before pulling out a new outline with a green cover. “With the Opening Ceremony out of the way, the challengers will be making their way through the first three gyms, which usually takes up about a month at most. But, I’ll save the details for later when it matters. For now, we’ll need to meet up at Turffield on the 7th, which is a day or two before we should expect challengers.”

“And is there a cut off date for challengers?” Juliet asked.

“We try to give challengers as much time as they can since every trainer is different, but the main organizers are in charge of monitoring the progress of each challenger and will give them warnings if they’re falling behind. We don’t want to rush them, but there’s still a general schedule we need to follow.” Phil’s smile widened as he looked over the outline. “I think you guys will like the sound of this. Since the League has been working hard on trying to expand its audience to other regions, they’re implementing a segment where we get to ‘participate’ in the gyms to see how they function. So, for Milo’s Gym, we’ll be going up against each other to see who can herd the Wooloo the fastest and it will be recorded and televised.”

“That sounds like fun!” Tessu exclaimed.

“I feel like Mary has an edge in this though.” Vanquil snickered. Mary laughed nervously and fiddled with her brown curls. Just as Juliet worked at the Battle Cafe on the side, Mary worked at the Daycare Centre on Route 5 so working with all kinds of Pokemon, baby or not, was second nature to her. Sometimes Pokemon were naturally drawn to her like she was their mom and more often than not, whenever they were looking for Raids in the Wild Area, many wild Pokemon would end up following them. It was definitely an easy way to catch Pokemon, but not so much if the Pokemon belonged to a family already since that could turn into a violent encounter. 

They don’t speak of the run-in with the very angry mother Bewear. 

“Sure, but I’m not exactly athletic.” Mary countered.

“Yeah, but I think the Wooloo will come to you, instead of you going to the Wooloo.” Juliet retorted playfully. “But that sounds like a great idea! I think it’ll also give viewers a chance to get to know the Gym Leaders outside of Pokemon battles.” Herding Wooloo...Now that was something she didn’t know she needed on her bucket list. She couldn’t help but giggle from just imagining a bunch of Wooloo rolling around and knocking into everything in sight. Was Wooloo Bowling a thing? That could make for an interesting new sport all together.

After briefing over some final details of the outline, Phil dismissed them, only to be invited for drinks by Raihan and some of the other Gym Leaders. Mary and Juliet weren’t one for drinking so Tessu and Vanquil accepted the invitation while they headed to Budew Inn to stay for the night. On their way there, Juliet was not expecting to be tackled and hugged from behind by a very excited Hop. She barely caught herself before she could fall face flat into the ground. 

“Juliet! Long time no see!!” He cheered. Juliet laughed and turned around to hug the boy properly, only to be surprised at how much he had grown. He was at her height now! Ignoring the disappointing reminder of her height, she casually ruffled a hand through his hair like she had done all those years ago.

“Hey Hop! Look at how tall you’ve gotten. I’m a little jealous.”

“Heh, I’ve been training hard so I can be as tall as Lee!”

“Looks like you’ll have no problem getting there at this rate. This is my best friend, Mary.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Hop! Good luck with the Gym Challenge!” Mary encouraged with a gentle smile.

“Thanks! I hope you two will root for me!”

“Hop!! No fair!” The short haired brunette from the Opening Ceremony, panted as she caught up with him. Hop snickered and puffed out his chest, standing proudly in front of his heaving best friend as if he had just won a marathon.

“You’ll have to train harder to catch up to me, Glo!”

“Hmph. I still beat you the other day in a battle.” She pouted.

“Beginner’s luck.” Hop shrugged off. “This is my best friend and rival, Gloria!”

“Nice to meet you, Juliet and Mary. Hop has actually mentioned you, Juliet, a few times before in the past.” Gloria mentioned casually, making Hop turn away bashfully. Juliet couldn’t help but smile at that. Hop was probably around 8 years old when he and his brother came to Hoenn, and how he followed them everywhere and would throw a fit if he wasn’t included whenever she and Leon hung out. The details were still hazy to her, but it felt right. She could faintly recall the cheerfulness she felt during those times and that’s what she relied on. 

She wondered if Hop looked up to her like an older sister? 

Juliet raised an eyebrow with interest. “Oho, did he now? Aww, I’m flattered you missed me, lil bro.”

“I mean, me and Lee had a lot of fun in Hoenn thanks to you! Heck, when we came home, Lee spent days writing a letter to you.”

 _Letter...?_ What letter? Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so surprised since she didn’t have a cellphone or a computer that she could have used to keep in touch with him so letters were the next best thing even if it lacked convenience. But, she didn’t recall receiving anything from him and if she did, her aunt would have definitely told her? She honestly felt a little guilty now, knowing that he wrote something for her to keep in touch but didn’t get a response back because it got lost in the mail or something. 

“Ahh, there you guys are! You’re both faster than you look.” Leon called out as he ran up to them. Juliet made a mental note to ask about the letter in detail later and maybe even apologize for not doing more to keep in touch. He tipped his hat at Juliet and Mary. “Good evening, ladies. Awesome job on your first day!”

“Thanks, Champ. You’re not going to get hammered like the others?”

“I have a couple of meetings in the morning so that wouldn’t be a good idea.” He laughed. “Besides, I want to make sure these two get some sleep before they set off on their journey.”

“Whaaaat? It’s still so early though!” Hop complained.

“Hopscotch, trust me, you’ll thank me later.” Just to make sure his brother did listen to him, he picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, chuckling as Hop protested to put him down. Gloria giggled at the sight and ignored Hop’s pleas for help until he eventually accepted his fate with his arms crossed over his brother’s shoulder. There was something warmly nostalgic about watching the brothers fool around with each other.

“Some things never change...” Gloria sighed.

“...I agree.” Juliet smiled nostalgically. 

* * *

_She’s running, the once starlit sky fading back into black, the boy who was running right next to her nowhere to be found. He was right there! Right next to her! Where did he go? Her frantic footsteps rang hollowly in her ears as she desperately tried to reach for someone – anyone. Calling out for the boy only to be answered with nothing but her own heavy breathing._

_She trips, stumbling onto the ground, wincing from the cold, hard ground that dug into her knees. She feebly tries to get up, praying that someone would be there with their hand out if she lifted her head._

_But there was no one._

_She curls up, hugging her knees to her chest._

_Why was she always left behind?_

* * *

Rather than being woken up by the blaring sound of an alarm clock, she felt someone shaking her awake. The gesture becoming stronger as she slowly regains consciousness. Opening her tear filled eyes, she could barely make out the worried faces of her friends hovering over her. Blinking away the tears, she pulled herself up from her bed, despite how heavy her heart felt in her chest.

“I’m fine, guys. Just another bad dream.”

“You’ve been getting a lot of those lately. Are you sure you’re OK?” Mary asked with concerned eyes. Juliet breathed shakily and pressed her fingers against her temple. No, she wouldn’t say she was OK if she was being honest. But, at the same time, her recurring nightmares were part of her everyday life so perhaps it was just a normal thing for her – she wasn’t a dream expert so what did she know. Besides, every so often she would have a happier dream. A glimmer of light in the midst of darkness.

“Dreams are just dreams. Lately mine haven’t been so...cheery but I try not to think about them.” Juliet forced a carefree smile and hoped that the tell tale twitch in the corner of her lips wasn’t a dead give-away of her facade.

“If you say so...We won’t force you to say things you don’t feel comfortable sharing, but you know you can count on us, right?” Tessu reassured, offering her a steaming cup of her favourite tea. Juliet nodded and gratefully took the offered drink and sipped it slowly.

She would tell them soon. She _had_ to.

“Anyway, we have a big day today! We’re going to be heading to Turffield to shoot the first challenge for the variety show so let’s try to have fun today!”

* * *

Turffield was lush with rolling hills and tilled fields – a stark contrast to the dome shaped stadium that stood in the centre of the idyllic town. Besides the stadium bringing in tourists from all over, the hill that stood on the west side of town was an attraction that held mysterious origins of what was depicted.

But, sightseeing could wait.

Arriving at the Grass Stadium, Raid Prism and Phil were instructed to don specially made outfits specifically for the show that consisted of a t-shirt in their respective colours, navy blue overalls and white gloves. The attire was simple and comfortable, but Juliet couldn’t help but feel a little sheepish considering her impression of farmers often consisted of them wearing their hair in braids, as she does every day.

Though, that didn’t really matter since she thought it was a nice change from her usual casual attire.

“Welcome to my gym, everyone!” Milo greeted with a gentle smile. The gym itself was rather linear initial glance. The floor was completely covered in grass with bales of hale scattered throughout as either obstacles or decorations, on top of electric sign boards that displayed a counter. And of course, there were herds of Wooloo that were milling about and doing their own thing as the trainers of the gym were setting things up with the camera crew.

“Thank you for having us!” They replied in unison.

“Of course. To be honest, this is the first time I’ve ever been put on camera for something like this so I’m feeling a little flustered right now.” Milo admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I think we’re all pretty new to this.” Phil chuckled and turned to Raid Prism. “What about you guys? I imagine this is pretty different from live streaming.”

“We definitely don’t have this kind of budget or staff and we don’t really have any scripted content since Max Raid battles are very much real and unpredictable.” Tessu started.

“But, since this is a variety program and it's about us getting to know the Gym Leaders and experiencing the gyms, I think the important thing is to just act natural.” Juliet ended. It was reassuring knowing that they didn’t have to act with any sort of script unlike many ‘reality’ programs out there that are actually scripted to stir up drama or drive the narrative into a specific direction. Still, knowing that they were going to be viewed by people outside of their fanbase was nerve-wracking because who knows if they were entertaining enough for televised programs like this.

Juliet lost count of how many times she subconsciously touched her hair when she stepped out of the dressing room just to make sure nothing was sticking out that would make her appear sloppy. 

“Alright! Listen up everyone!” The director ordered. Everyone in the gym dropped what they were doing and perked their heads up attentively to the director. He held a rolled up magazine in his hand and smacked it against an open palm before pointing it at Milo. The farmer tensed up despite the director shooting him a wide toothy grin.

“Relax, mate. I may be the director, but I don’t want any one of you to be tense, alright? We’re going to open up the program with you, Milo, and you’re going to introduce your gym as if you were greeting a challenger. Feel free to throw in some facts about yourself like how long you’ve been a Gym Leader, your goals, etc.” The director then directed his rolled up magazine at Raid Prism and Phil.

“You’ll then welcome Raid Prism and Phil, explain the rules of your gym and the challenge will start. Any questions?”

“Is there a prize for the winner?” Vanquil asked cheekily. 

The director snorted at the question and shrugged casually. “Bragging rights.”

* * *

“Take 12, And...action!”

“Welcome to Turffield Stadium! I’m Milo, the Grass-type Gym Leader. Here at my gym, challengers will have to make it through this course by herding Wooloo to each check point, until they reach the end to battle me. As you can see from the course, there’s obstacles and trainers scattered throughout that will break the Wooloos formation so make sure all Wooloo are accounted for at each checkpoint! But, for this special program, our challengers for today don’t need to battle any of the trainers. These Wooloo are a bit unruly to deal with but they’re friendly all the same!” Milo turned to Raid Prism and Phil.

“I have some special guests here today to experience what my gym is all about in a friendly competition. Phil, Raid Prism, thank you for coming!”

“Thank you for letting us get a first hand experience of what your gym is all about. I have to ask though, as a seasoned farmer as yourself, what advice would you give us for herding Wooloo?” Phil questioned. Milo hummed and tapped his cheek thoughtfully at the question.

“That’s a good question! I think keeping a cool head is important. Wooloo are generally obedient, but if you freak out, they’ll freak out too.”

“Juliet, you’re pretty chill and relaxed so I think you have the advantage.” Vanquil noted, nudging his elbow into her side.

Juliet rolled her eyes and shooed his elbow away. Being laid back only got her so far and for an activity such as herding Wooloo, pure adrenaline alone could stress her out. Not to mention she had poor stamina and endurance so she’ll probably end up feeling _extremely_ sore tomorrow. She silently cursed herself for not working out a bit more for today’s shoot.

“My stamina is not very good though. Like we talked about before, I think Mary has the upper hand because Pokemon are naturally drawn to her.”

“I don’t know if kindness is enough to win, though...” Mary retorted hesitantly, averting her eyes away from the camera.

“You do you, Mary! Think back to the classic story of the Buneary and the Turtwig. Turtwig won the race by doing its own thing.” Tessu added optimistically. 

“Haha, I like the way you think! Every challenger I battle brings something different to the table so I look forward to seeing how you’ll herd Wooloo in your own ways. Who wants to go first?” Milo asked. Juliet looked at her team, who all looked at her expectantly. She then turned to Phil, who shrugged as if to say ‘You or I could go first’.

Luckily it didn’t matter who went first since no one could see what the person was doing, therefore no one got the advantage of working around the other person’s mistakes. Juliet stepped forward and raised her hand. “I guess I’ll go first!”

“Great! To keep things even and fair, everyone else will be wearing blindfolds and headphones in a different room so no one will know what the other person did until the big reveal at the end!” Milo explained as the others were ushered off camera and Juliet stood in position. She took a few deep breaths to clear her head and carefully watched the herd of Wooloo waiting for her on the other side of the gate.

“Are you ready, Juliet?”

“Ready!”

“3, 2, 1... **GO!** ”

Juliet burst through the gates, almost startling the Wooloo, but obediently rolled along her path through the first course and to the first checkpoint. There were no obstacles which offered no trouble to the 20 Wooloo that had to be herded so it was a decent enough of a tutorial for what’s to come. Trainers were omitted from their challenge but that meant there would be more obstacles to hinder their progress. Once the counter registered 20 Wooloo, they all collectively smashed into the barrels of hay, revealing the next area of the course.

“It really is like Wooloo bowling!” Juliet remarked. She could hear Milo laugh at her comment on the sidelines, along with the camera crew that were running alongside her, capturing her every move. A Yamper suddenly jumped out from the left, causing the Wooloo to roll out of formation away from the electric puppy.

“Uh oh.” She muttered to herself, looking around for any sort of stick or object to distract the Yamper with. She then looked at her hand and yanked off one of her gloves and threw it in the opposite direction for the Yamper to chase after. Luckily, it took the bait and scampered to retrieve the glove while she cooed the Wooloo back into positions so they could reach the next checkpoint.

“Things will get a bit trickier from here but good luck!” Milo called out. Looking ahead, she got an idea of what he meant. The path split into three, with two Yampers occupying two of the paths. It wasn’t a simple solution of herding through the empty path when both Yampers came running towards her, barking and breaking through the Wooloo in two different groups. She clicked her tongue in annoyance. She only had one glove left so she would only be able to distract one of the Yampers, and there was still another section after to get through.

She opted to herd half of the Wooloo since she was already wasting time pondering over tactics. She looked back to see the two Yampers chasing the other half of the Wooloo in circles which gave her an idea. Once the half of the herd were at the checkpoint, she brought her ungloved hand to her lips and a loud whistle rang out, making the Yampers perk up from the sound and stop chasing the remaining Wooloo.

“Come here, boys!” She whistled again and patted her knees to get their attention. Their tails waggled excitedly, running towards her and herding the other half of the Wooloo to the checkpoint. She sighed in relief at the unorthodox idea and readied herself to complete the final stretch, but not before being jumped by both Yampers.

“H-Hey! Not now! I’ll play with you guys later!!” The Yampers offered a few more face licks before crawling off of her and scurrying back to their original positions. Juliet groaned, wiping the slobber off of her face with her sleeve and choosing to ignore the chuckles that came from the crew.

“You’re almost at the end! Keep it up!” Milo encouraged.

The Wooloo broke through the hay barrier, and Juliet swore under her breath from the final course. There were now three Yampers and rather than there being linear paths, it was broken up unevenly by different barriers.

“Is this herding Wooloo or playing tag with Yampers?!” She breathed out exasperatedly.

“That’s what herding with Wooloo is like! Sometimes you have to herd them away from train tracks, wild Pokemon, and other hazards!”

“You got your work cut out for you, I’ll give you that, Milo!” Despite her pounding heart and heaving chest, she pushed forward and despite the Yampers breaking up the Wooloo into smaller groups, she traversed through the winding path with the few Wooloo that stuck with her. Ordering the small group to stay at the checkpoint, she tried her previous strategy of whistling to the Yampers.

They didn’t listen and continued to chase the Wooloo throughout the course. If the Yampers weren’t going to come to her, she would have to go to them.

“If they want to play tag, let’s play tag!” Taking a moment to catch her breath, Juliet sprinted towards the Yampers with her arms outstretched as if she was going to scoop them up in her arms. They scurried away from her, nearly crashing into each other as they ran towards the checkpoint with the remaining Wooloo rolling away in front of them.

Hey, if there wasn’t a rule against Yampers helping her herd, she was going to take advantage of that instead of working against the rowdy puppies. The Wooloo crashed into the final barriers of hay and rolled into their respective pens at the finish line, signalling the end of the challenge with an air horn that blared across the course. Juliet slumped to her knees in exhaustion, grimacing at the sweat that rolled down her forehead and back.

That was...a lot more tiring than she expected. She did not envy Milo’s job at all, even if he gained those strong arms and legs in the process.

She’ll stick to doing light jogs and archery.

Juliet barely acknowledged his presence when he wrapped a clean towel around her neck and offered her a water bottle. “Great job out there! You definitely know how to think quickly under pressure.”

“Aha...Thanks, Milo. But, I think your patience is second to none if you can do this kind of work daily.”

The farmer chuckled and sheepishly scratched his cheek. “You’re giving me a bit too much credit. It takes a lot of training to build up the stamina for this kind of work, but with discipline and training, you can get to where I am as well.”

“Good point, but I think I’ll leave the farmer's life to you.”

“And cut! Great work, you two!”

* * *

“And the winner of the Grass Gym Challenge...With a time of 6 minutes and 45 seconds...Congratulations, Mary!”

“Huh?! I did that well?!”

“See, we knew you could do it!” Tessu exclaimed. Vanquil and Juliet looked over at Phil, who was slumped over from having the longest time, putting him in last place. They offered him a reassuring pat on the back in solidarity. 

“Even though there isn’t a grand prize for winning, please accept my Rare League Card for your victory!” Milo reached into his pocket and pulled out a shiny holographic card that depicted him cuddling with a Wooloo. Mary timidly accepted the card, still looking a bit dumbfounded by the results.

“Let’s replay Mary’s footage for the other challengers!”

As expected, upon stepping out of the gates, Mary gently cooed and coaxed the Wooloo to her and lightly jogged them to the checkpoints. When it came to the Yampers, their rowdiness were almost non-existent in her presence, choosing to either follow her or steer clear of the Wooloo.

It was a pure and wholesome display of how slow and steady wins the race.

Or perhaps, kindness and patience wins the race?

“Pokemon Whisperer.” The group, beside Mary, uttered in unison.

“You _guys!_ ”

* * *

“Well, that was something.” Juliet sighed tiredly. By the end of the shoot, the sun dipped into the horizon, casting the entire farming town into a gentle orange glow. Phil had excused himself for the rest of the evening, leaving Raid Prism on their own to explore the town if they wanted before they would have to rest up for the upcoming days of commentating for the Grass Gym. They decided to check out the giant geoglyph on the west side of town before it got dark. It was like a massive piece of art, with the hill being used as a canvas to depict a historical scene that was said to be about the Dynamax Phenomenon.

“Oh! I didn’t expect to see you guys here.” Sonia called out. The group turned their heads to see the Professor assistant with her faithful Yamper by her side, along with Gloria and Hop. Her Yamper scampered over to the team, receiving greeting pats from each of them before going back to Sonia’s side.

“Hey Sonia! Out researching?” Vanquil greeted. Sonia put a hand on her hip and twirled a finger through her hair thoughtfully.

“That’s right. I came to check out the geoglyph here and thought I’d give these two a bit of a history lesson on what’s known about it.”

“Mind if we listen in? We aren’t from Galar so we don’t know too much either.” Tessu asked.

“I don’t mind!” Sonia cleared her throat. The Raid team stepped aside to allow the assistant to stand in front of the railing, front and center of the imposing geoglyph that was etched into the grassy hill.

“The geoglyph is said to represent Dynamax and ‘The Darkest Day’. A long time ago...a great black storm covered the Galar region. Giant Pokémon ran rampant... But what was that black storm they called ‘the Darkest Day’? What connection does it have to Dynamax? Especially considering Pokemon can still Dynamax even though the storm has been gone for about 3000 thousand years. Except we can control it for the most part thanks to the Wishing Stars embedded in Dynamax bands.” Sonia’s eyebrows furrowed in mild frustration from the theories that brought about more questions than answers. “What do you all think?”

Juliet hummed, deep in thought. “If I got this right, Dynamax came about from the Darkest Day?”

“That’s what we think, yes.”

“So, I guess the big question to the big picture is _what_ caused the Darkest Day to happen and how.”

“Maybe we can try to catch a Celebi and ask it to take you back 3000 years. It’d be a huge research breakthrough.” Vanquil joked.

“I wish. Trying to find a Celebi would just add to my workload.” Sonia giggled, waving off the sarcastic offer.

“The longer I look at it, doesn’t the Pokemon look like a Toxtricity?” Gloria chimed in.

Huh. Looking at it closely, the figure did have the characteristics of a Toxtricity. But there was something slightly different about it. Squinting, at the tail of the Pokemon specifically, it reminded Juliet a lot of a Gigantamax Toxtricity, except it was standing on upright rather than on all fours. Evolutionary changes, perhaps?

“The tail specifically makes it look like a Gigantamax Toxtricity. But, it’s not standing on all fours like the ones we’ve found in the Wild Area.” Juliet added. Sonia’s eyes lit up from the observations and quickly pulled out a notepad to jot down notes.

“Interesting! That doesn’t exactly answer any questions to the origins of the Darkest Day, but now it makes me curious on why Toxtricity was chosen to be depicted, and in this form. Whether there’s a deeper meaning behind that, I’ll have to look into as well but I definitely feel motivated to do more research in the other towns! Thanks for the input, everyone.” She turned to Hop and Gloria. “And good luck with the Gym challenge, you two!”

“Good luck with your research, Sonia!” Juliet waved to the assistant. Sonia shot her a thankful grin before following her loyal Yamper down the hill. 

Watching Sonia descend down the hill, the team turned to the young Gym Challengers with tired smiles on their faces. Knowing what the Gym Challengers would have to go through on their first gym, they couldn’t help but feel a little nervous for them. Maybe they would have an easier time because of their youthful vigor? Then again, they had the trainers and Milo to worry about as well.

“So, how are you two feeling? Ready to take on the very first gym?” Vanquil asked. Hop perked up excitedly from the switch in topic to the Gym Challenge. Probably not much of a history fan or he had trouble wrapping his head around what Sonia was talking about. It was a lot to take in so they couldn’t blame the trainer especially when the highly anticipated Gym Challenge was now underway.

“I’m more than ready! I’m finally taking the first steps into following my brother!”

“We’ll see about that.” Gloria challenged. Something shone in Hop’s eyes at that, making him pull out a Pokeball and thrusting it towards his childhood friend. Gloria answered his challenge with a Pokeball of her own. The air suddenly grew tense, and Raid Prism were prepared to deliver impromptu commentary to the battle between young rivals-

Until the sound of gurgling came from Hop and Gloria’s stomachs.

* * *

Lying in bed at the inn, Juliet lay on her bed, fully awake with her mind swimming in thoughts about the Darkest Day and Dynamax. Despite the physical workout from herding Wooloo, the image of the geoglyph kept her mind distracted from drifting off.

It seemed the world didn’t want her to sleep, her phone vibrating from receiving a text. Turning over in her bed, she blindly reached for her Rotom phone she hid under her pillow. After letting her eyes adjust to the bright screen, she opened up the messenger window to see a text from Leon.

Raising an eyebrow out of curiosity as to why he was still up, she started texting him back.

**Leon:** Hey Juliet. Thanks for taking care

of my brother and Gloria in Turffield.

he didn't cause you guys any trouble did he?

**Juliet:** Np, and no he didn’t. he’s really

excited about the first gym

**Leon:** I know lol he's been texting me

non-stop about it

**Leon:** I hope he's going to be ok

**Juliet:** oh? big bro doubting his little bro?

**Leon:** Doubt isn't the word I’d use but

**Leon:** I just don’t want him to push

himself too hard you know?

**Leon:** Sorry I just realized that I'm probably

keeping you up

**Juliet:** It’s fine. I’m having trouble sleeping

anyway.

**Juliet:** If it makes you feel any better,

I’ll keep an eye on him since our

team is commentating the gym

challenge anyway

**Juliet:** So I can see his progress and how

he’s battling

**Leon:** Thanks. I appreciate it. I’m going

to try to make it to his battles but it’s hard

with my schedule

**Juliet:** It's the thought that counts

but I'd remind him every now and

again that you’re always supporting him

**Juliet:** That's what I would do

**Leon:** Yeah. It's the least that I could do

**Leon:** Sometimes I wish I had more time to

spend with my family and friends

**Juliet:** The champion life sounds hard

but It's ok to have those days

**Leon:** You think so?

**Juliet:** Of course. you’re only human

Leon. You’re allowed to be stressed.

It doesn’t matter how much you love

your job – sometimes it’ll feel like work

**Leon:** ...thank you

**Leon:** Hearing that makes me feel a lot

better

**Juliet:** Any time champ. Cut yourself

some slack. You’re worried about

Hop pushing himself too hard but I think

you're pushing yourself too hard

**Leon:** Well there's not much I can do

about that with my workload

**Leon:** But I'll try

**Juliet:** Good

**Juliet:** Now go to sleep. Can’t give

your fans a champion time with bags

under your eyes

**Leon:** Ha ha

**Juliet:** Actually, one more thing

**Leon:** Yeah?

**Juliet:** Hop mentioned something

about you writing a letter to me

when you came back from vacation

from Hoenn. What’s that about?

For some reason, he took awhile to type out his response even though his response was rather curt and short. Maybe he had trouble remembering it himself?

**Leon:** Oh

**Leon:** That

**Leon:** Don’t worry about it

**Juliet:**??? Well now I can’t with

a suspicious response like

that. Spill

**Leon:** It was nothing!! It was so long

ago that I don’t really remember

**Juliet:** Liar

**Leon:** I mean it! OK good night

Juliet snorted. Did she make him flustered? That was a first. Whatever the _illusive_ letter was about, it probably made him cringe thinking about it. She shoved her phone back under her pillow and sighed into the darkness of her suite. No time for family and friends. Feeling like you aren’t allowed to be stressed because of the privileges of being Champion...

“I wonder...if there are people who have said bad things about him, does he know? And how does he deal with it...” She buried her face into a spare pillow, but not being able to shake off the blurry image of the Leon she knew from back then. How long had she kept the memories of that time locked away? And why did it take seeing him again trigger pieces of that memory to come back?

It was almost like...She was forgetting something important. _Significant_ . Whatever it was, she couldn’t for the life of her remember why it was important either. But, it felt like _something_ was mixing up what she knew from her past.

Maybe she was going crazy.

Groaning in defeat, she turned over on her stomach and forced her mind to shut up so she could finally drift into the unconscious.

And hope a pleasant dream was waiting for her.

* * *

**Pokegram Post of the Day**

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for updating a day late! I wasn't feeling too well yesterday so I took the day off to rest! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the drawings that I made for it! The instagram like edits will be a recurring thing for the main chapters so please look forward to them! 
> 
> If you reached the end, please leave a kudos and a comment if you want!


	5. Waves of Nostalgia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Next stop is Hulbury where the next shoot is taking place! But, with Raid Prism's rising popularity, they've started to become worried about the price of fame as their audience grows and Nessa offers encouraging words of advice as a Gym Leader and model. Leon is also feeling the pressure of his duties as Champion more than usual and seeks reassurance that what he's doing is enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is up a day earlier than usual because I'm going to be releasing another chapter tomorrow! It's a special chapter of a series of 'Memory Chapters', where events take place in the past to focus on the missing pieces of Juliet's memory.

**Chapter 4: Waves of Nostalgia**

****

* * *

_ She was paralyzed. Laying feebly on the ground with her knees pressed to her chest with nothing but darkness surrounding her. She couldn’t even open her eyes, but...was that the sound of the waves splashing against the shore? She always found the sound comforting.  _

_ No matter how much time passed, the gentle sound of the retreating tide never changed.  _

_ She envied those waves.  _

_ Then, she feels it. Something touching her ever so lightly, as if she was being treated as something delicate. Precious.  _

_ She lets them caress her with feather-like touches, while the sounds of the rolling waves lulled her gently. _

* * *

The morning chirps of Wingull drew Juliet to the doors leading to the balcony of her suite. Pulling the curtains back to let in the warm morning rays, and soaking in the fresh ocean breeze that wafted into the room, she looked out to the glistening sea that surrounded the port town of Hulbury. It wasn’t Lilycove City, but it was a slice of nostalgia that she couldn’t say no to. 

A morning walk along the docks felt like a good idea.

Shooting a quick message to her team that she was going to take a quick walk around town first, she changed into her usual attire but decided to forgo the varsity jacket and beret. Once she was out of the hotel, she wandered through the residential area, passed the famous seafood restaurant, and towards the dock, where she noticed the familiar Water-type Gym Leader swimming laps around the bay. Nessa carried an air of elegance wherever she went so watching her swim was like watching Primarina weave through the waves with grace. 

Upon noticing her by the docks, Nessa swam back and pulled herself out of the water. She flicked her damp hair over one shoulder and looked at Juliet curiously. Juliet beamed at the Gym Leader and reached out her hand to pull her out of the water. Nessa smiled back and allowed herself to be pulled back to the wooden docks. 

“Thank you. Juliet, right?”

“That’s right. Good morning, Nessa!”

“Good morning. It’s still pretty early and our shoot isn’t for another few hours.”

“Thanks, but I’m a bit of a morning person so I couldn’t help but take a wake through the town.” Juliet dipped her feet into the water. “You could say I’m also a bit excited to be here in Hulbury.”

Nessa shot her a playful grin. “A fan of water?”

“Something like that! I was born in a seaside city too, though in Hoenn. When I was little, sometimes I would spend hours just looking out at the sea and the ships that docked or departed.” Closing her eyes and letting the ocean breeze flow through her hair, she would have been none of the wiser if someone told her she was in Lilycove City or Slateport City. She never realized how much she missed the scenery until she heard the Wingull soaring through the skies and the splashing waves. 

Hulbury would have been the town she would have wanted to live in if she were born in Galar. Wyndon was great and she enjoyed the hustle and bustle of city life, but living by the sea always felt like home to her. 

“The ocean is a beautiful place. It’s even prettier underwater especially when the Pokemon are swimming with you.” Nessa wrapped a towel around her neck and proceeded to dry her hair. “So, how did you guys do at Milo’s Gym?”

Juliet grimaced a bit. “It was fun but also really tiring. I ended up sleeping in and I was really sore. I had trouble walking too, haha...”

“Heehee, well, don’t worry. There isn’t much physical exertion for my Gym. You’ll have to flex this, though.” Nessa tapped the side of her head. Huh, a brain challenge? Or perhaps a puzzle. Kicking off with herding Wooloo gave her the impression that the challenges would only escalate in physical intensity thereafter. It was a relief that that wasn’t the case. 

Lucky for Juliet, puzzles were more up her alley than being physically active. She didn’t consider herself smart, but she was good at thinking outside of the box. 

“Oh! That reminds me. I saw that new commercial of you riding the Milotic the other day. Both of you were so beautiful and in sync! It took my breath away.”

Nessa bashfully twirled her hair around her finger. “Thank you. Riding on that Milotic through the water and just seeing all of the Pokemon co-existing with each other down there, it really reminded me of how much I love my jobs as a Gym Leader and model.”

“It must be difficult juggling both.”

“It’s funny you mention that because, and don’t tell Rose, but he was...suggesting that I stick to one career path so I can focus my skills to the fullest in one area. But…” Nessa looked out to the sea with a fond smile on her face. “Sonia told me that I was like the Milotic. Beautiful and strong. And that’s who I’m striving to be.”

“I think you’re doing a great job of making the best of both worlds and your work shows it.” Juliet hummed curiously. “How did you even get a wild Milotic to listen to you? Even in Hoenn, they’re incredibly rare and I imagine it’s the same here.” On top of that, Feebas in general were hard to come by and raising them to evolve into a Milotic was no easy task either - but it made sense for one of the most beautiful Pokemon species in the world and made them special for a reason. 

Nessa closed her eyes and leaned back against the dock, as if reliving through a precious memory from the past. “When I was a child, I encouraged a Feebas who was being bullied by other Pokemon. They were picking on the poor thing and my love for water Pokemon couldn’t stand it. When the Milotic turned back to look at me while I was riding it, I think we both recognized each other from back then.”

Friends from the past, reuniting as better versions of themselves. Why did it...feel so familiar? It rang a distant bell in Juliet’s head, but it was too faint for her to recall where it was coming from. Perhaps it made some sense in her case with Leon, but she doubted her reunion was as heartwarming as what Nessa experienced. It wasn’t like those moments in fiction where two people who have been far apart for years, get wrapped up in a whirlwind of emotions upon seeing each other again. Her eyes narrowed. More cases of  _ familiar _ feelings but nothing to associate with them. 

She would be lying if she said that the whole situation didn’t make her feel a bit melancholic. Friendships were important to her, and to forget about one until now made it feel like she had disregarded someone’s trust in her.

_ Why  _ did she forget? 

_ How _ did she forget?

“Hm? Is something wrong, Juliet? You look conflicted.”

“Huh? Oh, sorry. It’s nothing you need to worry about Nessa! I’m just trying to recall some stuff and I’m having a bit of trouble.”

“Is that so? I usually try not to think about what it is I’m trying to remember and it usually comes back on its own.”

“Hmm...Maybe you’re right. That’s a beautiful encounter though. Seems like the Milotic had the last laugh on whoever picked on it.”

Nessa giggled. “That’s one way to put it. But, speaking of encounters, I’m curious about something.” She leans her head over, making Juliet do the same, thinking that she had a secret to share. 

“Do you have a history with Leon?”

Juliet’s eyebrow raised curiously. “Like, have I met him before? Then yeah, I have. He stayed at my aunt’s inn for vacation with his family and we were acquainted and I’d like to think we became friends then.”

“Hmm...You don’t sound so sure.” Nessa retorted with a tilt of her head.

“Well, what I mentioned earlier about trying to remember something, has something to do with him. I can’t seem to recall the details of his stay. I just know that I’ve met him before. I feel a little guilty because he seems to remember more than me.”

Nessa’s shoulder sagged, as if saddened by the fact. “I see. Sorry for intruding.”

“It’s OK! I’m sure I’ll remember something one way or another.” Juliet pulled out her Rotom phone and pulled her feet out of the water. “I’m going to be later for breakfast so I have to get going, but I’ll see you later at your gym, Nessa!”

Watching the Raid leader run out of the docks, Nessa looked on with sympathetic eyes. Was that really her? Something about her felt...off. Could someone’s feelings change so  _ nonchalantly _ that easily? Or maybe...the way  _ he _ perceived the moment was one-sided? She wasn’t there to see it, but she remembered how much he talked about her when he returned from vacation. There was no mistaking his longing and adoration from back then, and though years have passed and it seemed like he had moved on from it, it looked like those feelings were creeping up on him ever so slightly. 

Nessa was a model, so she had an eye for people’s mannerisms and gestures. And she could see that  _ same look _ hidden behind his golden eyes whenever he talked about her.

“If only you noticed how often he looks your way.”

* * *

“And....action!”

“Welcome to the Hulbury Gym. I’m Nessa, the Water-type Gym leader. In my gym, challengers will have to use their brains and wits to traverse through the puzzle of water pipes in order to reach the end and battle me. Being a strong trainer is not just about having strong Pokemon; it’s also about having a strategic mind to outsmart your opponents.” Nessa turned to Phil and Raid Prism, who were all dressed in wet suits in their respective colours. 

“Based on the results of Milo’s gym, I’m curious to see which one of you will make it through the fastest.”

“It definitely won’t be me.” Mary answered sheepishly. 

“Phil, are you going to be OK without your glasses?” Tessu asked. Phil looked a lot more pumped up than usual, which was an encouraging sight from how defeated he looked when he came in last for the previous challenge. 

“I’ll be fine! I think I’ll be able to flex my area of expertise in this gym so if you guys don’t mind, I’d like to go first!” Phil volunteered.

Nessa whistled at the host’s eagerness. “Quite the confidence you have there. If there’s no objections, let’s get you ready!”

* * *

“Alright, you’re up Juliet!”

In stark contrast to the Grass gym, the Water gym was made up of steel platforms, pipes, and grates that stood above a pool of water. At first glance, Juliet mentally noted that water was running over the path directly in front of her, while the free area to her right had a red switch with two other paths blocked off by rushing water. There were three different colour pipes, which meant three different coloured switches. 

“Here are the rules for this Gym. First, you are not allowed to swim over to the platform you’re trying to get to. Not only is it cheating, but it’s also dangerous. Second, you cannot forcefully go through a path that’s blocked by water. If you accidentally fall into the water, we have many lifeguards on standby to get you, but that will add on to your time. You got it?” Nessa explained. 

“Got it!”

“3, 2, 1... **_GO!_ ** ”

Since there were no proper barriers around the platforms to prevent anyone from falling overboard, Juliet took the calm approach of brisk walking to the right and immediately activating the red switch to open up the path to the yellow switch. Pressing the red switch again, she passed over two grates and up the stairs to another platform with a red switch, and a running yellow pipe to her left. Scanning over the pipes that were not running ahead of her, she quickly figured out that there was no point in touching the red switch and followed the path to a yellow switch.

“That’s going to open up that path, which means I can go to the red switch and that path will be open…” Juliet muttered to herself. Nessa looked on with an impressed grin on her face. She had a sharp mind, just like  _ he _ said. It was like she could devise each step of the puzzle before testing it, at a remarkable speed. 

Juliet already made it to the last leg of the puzzle, which was obviously the hardest part of the challenge. Jogging through the last lap, she noted the inclusion of the blue pipe, which would make the puzzle a bit more complex being an added variable. 

Blue pipe was off.

Red pipe was on, and blocked a blue switch. Running down towards the lower platform, she also noted the open path with a turned off blue pipe, led to a red switch. Going down to the lower path, she noticed a red pipe and a yellow pipe. Both off, and a yellow switch.

Yellow switch first. 

Then…

Red, then blue! 

Juliet smirked confidently. She had this in the bag. She switched off the switches in that order and pumped her first in the air seeing all three pipes in front of the finish line turned off, as she thought. She slammed the buzzer at the finish line with her fist, freezing the time and turning off all the pipes in the gym. 

“And, that’s time! Wow! You were really fast, Juliet!” Nessa praised while clapping. 

“Thanks, Nessa! I love a good puzzle, so that was really fun!”

“I could tell. You looked like you were in your element. You strike me as a quick-witted Pokemon trainer.”

“You think so? Fun fact about me is that I actually wanted to be a Pokemon Coordinator growing up but didn’t have the means to. But, that didn’t stop me from watching as many Pokemon Contests as I could to learn about quick and creative problem-solving.” Juliet could vividly recall going to the Pokemon Contest Hall as much as she could to see performances and battles between Coordinators. Showing off your Pokemon’s beauty, coolness, cuteness, cleverness, or toughness under the dazzling spotlight, it was nothing short of magnificent.

She didn’t really want to be a Pokemon Coordinator now, but she did lament the lack of opportunity for her to try in her youth. 

“A Pokemon Coordinator? I wouldn’t have expected that from you. Why did-” Nessa noticed the camera crew gesturing them to cut because of time. “Ahh, we can pick this up later. We have to keep moving. Let’s trade numbers after.”

“Sure!”

“Great work, ladies! Watch your steps on your way back!” The director shouted from across the Gym.

* * *

“And the winner of the Water Gym Challenge...With a time of 2 minutes on the dot...Congratulations, Juliet!”

“2 minutes!?” The other four exclaimed in shock. Juliet stuck out her tongue playfully and threw a peace sign for the camera.

“Aww man, and I thought I was going to win for sure but it definitely didn’t take me 2 minutes to complete that.” Phil bemoaned. “Show us her footage!”

Juliet’s team gawked at how composed and calm she was, as if she knew the answers to the Gym from the start. Even when she took moments to ponder over the solutions in her head, she didn’t need to go back and forth between the switches to correct any mistakes. 

“Juliet does play a lot of puzzle games and even goes through the crossword and sudoku sections of the newspaper.” Mary mentioned cheekily. Juliet puffed out her cheeks embarrassingly from that. It wasn’t like she did it all the time, but whenever she was bored and had a newspaper lying around, it was a good way to kill time.

“You make me sound like an old man. Do you guys not go through the newspaper for the games and comics at the end?”

“No.” They answered in unison. 

“Ehhh...”

“Cheer up, Juliet. You won the challenge! And since Milo did this, I think I’ll do so as well. Here’s my rare League card as your prize.” Nessa handed her a holographic League card of Nessa modelling in a white satin dress, along with her autograph. 

“Thank you, Nessa!”

“You’re welcome. And that concludes the end of my Gym’s challenge. Thank you for tuning in and stay tuned for next week’s episode for Kabu’s Gym in Motostoke!” Nessa winked at the camera and waved. 

“And, cut! Great job, everyone!”

* * *

“2 minutes…” Phil grumbled, a bit tipsy from having too much wine.

“Geez, are you still hung up on that?” Juliet groaned through mouthfuls of chocolate cake. Nessa kindly offered them a VIP reservation for the famous seafood restaurant in the seaside town, and they ate to their heart’s content as the evening sky settled in. Nessa swirled the champagne in her glass and remembered the conversation from the shoot.

“Oh, that reminds me. Juliet, you said you wanted to be a Pokemon Coordinator when you were younger, right? Do you still have that desire?”

“Hmmm...Not really. I love watching Pokemon Coordinators perform but I don’t think I could ever be one.”

“And why’s that? You probably don’t like dressing up fancy, huh?” Tessu teased.

“That’s part of it, yeah. But, the life of being under the spotlight all the time sounds...more trouble than it’s worth.”

“I think every celebrity feels that way, whether they can stand it or not,” Nessa started. “As a Gym Leader and model, you never really know what people will say to you especially when it’s coming out of the media’s mouth. Being a celebrity is a double-edged sword; the higher you go, the harder you fall.”

She made a strong point. It’s a blessing to have a place in the world where you’re loved by people, but that adoration can turn sour when their perception of you doesn’t align with the decisions you make. Expectations grow bigger, the love from fans grow more intense - one slip up could make you lose it all. For Raid Prism, even with their presence on social media, their audience continues to grow as they keep up with their jobs for the Gym Challenge, and they would be lying if they said they didn’t notice the few comments calling them sell-outs that slowly trinkled at the start of the Gym Challenge. Luckily, positives far outweigh the negatives so it hasn’t gotten to the point where any of them have started to doubt themselves.

Still, it was still naive to even rely on assurance like that - because you start to think that nothing could possibly go wrong. 

“I mean...We’re technically under the spotlight too. Granted, I’ve never really been stopped by fans or had to put on a disguise.” Vanquil thought out loud. 

“It would be nice if things stay as they are. The fame is nice but I don’t want our privacy to be compromised.” Mary added quietly. 

“I think it’s a bit too late to have second thoughts.”  _ I would know _ , Juliet thought with a dry chuckle. 

“There’s a lot to worry about, but the most you can do is keep being yourselves and do what you love. Whether people stay or leave, there’s only so much you can do.” Nessa admitted honestly. “The true fans are the ones who love you for you, not for what  _ they _ want you to be.”

“That’s reassuring coming from you, Nessa.”

“I’m glad. I also think you guys should talk to Raihan. Out of all the Gym Leaders, he has the biggest audience and online experience so he probably knows what you’re going through.”

“Huh. I wouldn’t have guessed. He always looks relaxed and easy-going.” Vanquil said.

“In the stadium, he’s a storm to be reckoned with, but he’s just a regular person with feelings just like you and me.” Nessa drank the less of her champagne and looked at the time on her Rotom phone. “Ahh, I should get going. Feel free to stay as long as you like and I’ll remind the restaurant to charge the bill on my tab.”

“Thank you for treating us, Nessa. Have a good night!” 

Once Nessa was out of sight, Tessu poked the passed out body of Phil, who was slumped over the table and snoring loudly. “What should we do about Phil?”

“He can crash in my room for the night.” Vanquil got up from his seat and pulled Phil’s body up to sling his arm around his shoulder. “Oof, I might need some help though.”

* * *

“Mhm. Yeah. I got it Chairman. I’ll be there bright and early. Yeah, you too.” The moment Leon hung up the phone and entered his penthouse suite, he let out a whole week’s worth of sighs that he didn’t realize he was bottling up. He carelessly tossed his phone on his bed before jumping into the bathroom to take a long, hot shower. 

The hot water didn’t do much to wash away his brooding thoughts, though.

After slipping on a pair of shorts and not bothering to put on a shirt, he flopped onto his king sized bed that was tad too big even for him. 

Even if he was Galar’s ‘King’. 

He just wanted to fall asleep as quickly as he could, but his persistent thoughts wouldn’t allow it. He opened up Chatoter to see what his co-workers and friends were up to while ignoring the notifications that flooded his inbox. After scrolling and liking Raihan’s 10th selfie, he opened up his text messages out of desire to talk to someone. 

_ Anyone. _

Just as he was about to bug Raihan, an incoming call came in, making him fumble with his phone clumsily from surprise. 

It was Juliet.

He ignored the way his heart  _ leaped  _ and promptly answered the call. “Hello?”

_ “Hey Champ! It’s Juliet. Hope you don’t mind me checking in on you to see how you’re doing.” _

“No, I don’t mind. I…” He sighed into the phone. “I was actually in the mood to talk to someone.”

_ “Rough day?” _

“Yeah. Something like that.”

_ “Were you going to talk to Raihan or Sonia? Sorry for bugging you! I’ll hang up now-” _

“No, wait! It’s OK. I don’t mind if it’s you.”

_ “You sure?” _

“Yeah.”

_ “I see. Alright, go make yourself some tea then.” _

“Ugh, but I’m already comfortable in bed.” He made a point by rolling on his stomach and burying his face in his pillow, muffling his voice, but she wasn’t having any of it.

_ “You’ll feel even better once you drink tea IN bed. Go on. I’ll wait.” _

How stubborn. 

But, Leon couldn’t say not to a hot cup of tea to relax. He put the call on hold while he went into his kitchen to make the tea before returning and setting the mug of tea on his night stand. He put the call on speaker and picked up the mug, already feeling relaxed from the pleasant smell of the tea and how the warmth of the cup seeped into his hands.

“I’m back.”

_ “Welcome back. Got the tea? Literally and figuratively?” _

He snorted. “What are you, Raihan? And yes, I do. Whether I have it figuratively, I’ll let you decide.”

_ “Cool. Take a few sips and talk whenever you feel like it.” _

“OK…” Leon took a few cautious sips of the tea, before letting out another sigh. “I don’t know if it’s just me but...it feels like Chairman Rose is giving me more appointments and meetings than usual. He keeps being vague about this ‘big project’ he has in the works and maybe that’s why he’s giving me more work. I just…” He took a long sip. His next sigh sounded frustrated. 

“I just hope that everything I’m doing is enough. If my work is going towards a good cause, then good. But, even when I think that, it doesn’t erase the fact that I’m stressed and tired…” 

_ “Leon…”  _ He heard a bit of shuffling before Juliet spoke again.  _ “What drives you to work so hard?” _

“What drives me?”

_ “Yeah. Don’t think about the fact that you’re working for someone else. What motivates you to get up every morning, to take on the day even if you know you’ll be exhausted at the end of the day?” _

“I guess...Knowing that I’ll be providing for my mum, my grandparents, and Hop.” 

_ “And, what about you? What do you want to achieve for yourself?” _

“I...I want to give the people of Galar strength. Hope. Inspiration that they can do whatever it is they want to do if they put in the hard work. If I didn’t work hard, if I wasn’t strong, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

_ “And how do you think you’re progressing with that goal?” _

“Doesn’t my 13 year-long winning streak answer that?”

_ “I suppose, but, is inspiring strength from your wins the message you want to give?” _

“...What do you mean?”

_ “Do you want to be remembered as a Champion for how many years you’ve held the title, or do you want to be remembered as Champion for something more? It seems like the title of ‘Unbeatable’ is weighing you down more than you think.” _

Leon’s shoulders slumped. “Maybe you’re right…”

_ “Or, maybe I’m wrong. The culture of Champions here in Galar is a lot different to other regions so perhaps what I’m saying is easier said than done. But...Take a step back to think about what it is you want to do.13 years is a long time to be working under someone else’s orders when  _ **_you’re_ ** _ the star of the region.” _

“...I’ve never really thought of it like that. I didn’t realize how much I’ve been following someone else’s orders this whole time. So much of it is being the face of all these brands and products but...That’s not who I want to be.” But, where would he even start? If the system isn’t broken, why bother fixing it? He doubted that Rose would just drop everything they’ve spent over a decade building, to let Leon take matters into his own hands. It wasn’t like he had any business experience either. 

However, finally recognizing that he was misguided in what he wanted to achieve, it gave him certainty that he still believed and valued his goals. 

_ “Sounds like you have an idea of what you need to do.” _

“I do, but now it’s a matter of how to bring it up to Rose…”

_ “You’ve worked with him for so long that I’m sure he recognizes you as an adult who is capable of making your own decisions, no?” _

“Yeah. I’m definitely tired of all this hand-holding and being a pushover...Thank you, Juliet.”

_ “For what?” _

“Don’t be cheeky, you know exactly what you did.”

_ “Hehe, got me there. But, really, all I did was ask you questions that got you to verbalize what you’ve been feeling. You had the answer all along. I just helped you pull it out.” _

“Even then, I’m grateful that you did. I feel a lot better now.”

_ “Eh, that might just be the tea talking.” _

“Stop deflecting my gratitude.” Leon chuckled lightly. 

_ “OK, OK. You’re very welcome, Leon. I’ll be here to lend an ear if you need it. And...if anything ever goes wrong, you have friends and family who will always believe in you. The life of a Champion sounds lonely, but it doesn’t have to be. _ ”

**_Ba-bump_ **

“...Thank you. Really. I know I’m a busy man but, you can rely on me too, you know? I might not give advice as good as yours but, I want to be there for you too.”

_ “Heh, thanks, Leon. I’ll keep that in mind. Finish up your tea and get some rest, OK?” _

“I will. I’ll talk to you again soon?”

_ “Anytime, Leon. Good night!” _

“Night.” Hanging up the phone, Leon let out a relaxed sigh - a contrast to the frustrated sighs he was letting out earlier. He got up from his bed to look out at the city life of Wyndon below. It was a beautiful view, but it reminded him of all the people who were still working their hardest even at night, while he was in the comfort of his penthouse suite. He had so many privileges and opportunities that many people dream to have, which made him all the more determined to be someone more than just a face on billboards and magazines. 

He was better than that. Or, at least, he  _ wanted  _ to be better than that. 

He replayed the phone conversation in his head, finding comfort in Juliet’s words. She was always so honest and welcoming towards other people’s feelings.

It made it easy for him to connect with her, from all those years ago…

* * *

**Raid Prism [OFF] vs. [ON]**

****

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this chapter! As always, please consider leaving a kudos and or a comment! If you like my art, you can follow me on Twitter @PigeonSenpai or my Tumblr which is carefreejules!


	6. Memory Chapter - Lavaridge Hospitality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After convincing Chairman Rose to give Leon some time to go on vacation with his family, Leon is a bit lost on how to spend his free time wisely in a region he had never been to before. He had never been given an extensive break until now so the concept of 'relaxing' didn't come too easily for him. 
> 
> That was until he started to get to know a girl who would show him the ropes of what the Hoenn region had to offer.

**Memory Chapter: Lavaridge Hospitality** ****

****

* * *

“My, what a wonderful inn!”

“Look, mommy! Are those the hot springs?”

“It looks like it, Hop. Wait! Don’t take your clothes off here!”

“I got him, mum.” Lee pulled his brother’s shirt back over his torso and threw him over his shoulders despite Hop thrashing about in protest. He sighed inwardly. This wouldn’t be a very relaxing vacation if he had to keep an eye on his hyperactive brother 24/7. Grabbing his suitcase with his free hand, he followed his mother through the sliding doors of the inn and were greeted by a kind middle-aged woman in a white robe. She wore a silver name tag with ‘Tiffany’ etched into it.

“Welcome to the Lavaridge Inn! Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes. We have a reservation for three under Holly from Postwick in Galar.” Holly replied. Tiffany nodded, typing away on her computer and confirming the reservation and the room number. She raised her head and looked between her two sons.

“And just to confirm that the reservation is for two adults and one child?”

“Yes. My eldest son is 16 and my youngest son is 8.”

“Alright. One moment, please.” Tiffany picked up a small bell and rang it back and forth, summoning a young teenager with black hair tied up into a single braid, and bright cobalt blue eyes. She also wore the same white robe the woman wore, minus any sort of name tag. She bowed her head respectfully to the guests and regarded them with a small, yet relaxed smile. 

“Good afternoon.” She greeted politely.

“My niece will show you to your room. She’ll fill you in on the details and if you have any questions, we’ll be more than happy to answer them.”

“Please follow me.” Following the teenager down hallways of similar looking sliding doors, Lee’s eyes twitched knowingly. He was  _ definitely _ going to get lost in this place. He was already a bit disoriented from the long flight and no doubt jet lag was going to come at him at full force in the next few hours. This was his first time travelling outside of Galar so he didn’t know what to expect. Honestly, the concept of going on a vacation or even just relaxing was a bit taboo for him because of how busy he was. It was a little sad but he really wanted to make most of it since his mum made a bit of a scene in front of Chairman Rose to give him a break for once. He must have been so distracted by the maze of hallways and his wandering thoughts that he didn’t realize he wasn’t following his family anymore. 

First day of vacation and he already got lost.  _ Great. _

“Um.”

He whipped his head to see the teenager who was guiding them. Heat crept up on his cheeks and he bashfully looked to the side while rubbing the side of his neck. “S-Sorry. I tend to get lost.”

The girl stifled a giggle behind her white sleeve. “It happens. The decor here is pretty repetitive looking so I don’t blame you.”

“Right...Wait. What’s your name?”

“My name?”

“Yeah. You’re not wearing a name tag like your aunt is.”

“...Call me J.”

“J? That’s it?”

“Is that weird?” She asked, looking slightly offended.

“No! I mean,” Why was he getting so worked up? Jet lag, that must be it. He ran a hand through his purple hair and sighed lamely. “Sorry. The long plane ride is making me act weird.”

J shot him a sympathetic smile. “I’m just messing with you. Let’s get you to your room so you can rest up.” Walking back through the halls of the inn, she shot him a glance behind her every so often to make sure he didn’t stray away again. She might as well get his name (or alias) if she told him hers.

“What should I call you?”

“Le-” Lee started before abruptly shutting his mouth into a tight line. Right. Being in a different region meant that people were likely not to know who he was. Which meant he didn’t have to worry about being bombarded with questions, or autograph requests. He could go about his vacation as a normal citizen and not an undefeated Champion with a six year unbreakable streak. Still...There was the off chance that someone might look him up if people here knew his name.

Unless there were other Leons out there.

“You can call me Lee. That’s what my brother calls me.”

“Lee, huh?” She almost sounded suspicious when she echoed his name back at him.

“Is that weird?” He parroted back her earlier comment. J rolled her eyes.

“No. Of course not.”

* * *

Lee got lost.  _ Again _ . He thought taking a nap would help clear his head and revitalize his energy, but waking up in a different environment only made him feel more groggy. His mother left him a note by his bedside, letting him know that if she and Hop were gone by the time he woke up, they would be in the dining hall. He wandered aimlessly, until he managed to spot J putting towels in a laundry cart around the corner.

“Hey, J.”

“Hello, Lee. Did you sleep OK?”

“Ahh...Still a bit jet lagged.”

“Is that so? I suggest taking a bath after dinner and going straight to bed. Our hot springs are therapeutic for a good night’s sleep.” J tilted her head and noticed that he was on his own again, just like earlier. She couldn’t help but shoot him a playful grin. “Though, you’re on the opposite end of where the dining hall is.”

“Ugh...Seriously?”

“Hey, cheer up. I have an idea. Odin!” She called out. After a moment of silence, the pattering feet of a Pokemon grew louder until a Pikachu ran towards them and leaped into J’s arms. “This is Odin. One of my Pokemon. If you ever get lost, just call out to him and tell him where you need to go. Odin, this is Lee. Help him out when he calls for you, OK?”

Odin looked at Lee curiously and nodded eagerly before striking an eccentric pose. Leon chuckled at the Pokemon’s silliness. “Thanks for the help, Odin. Do you mind showing me where the dining hall is?”

The Pikachu jumped out of his trainer’s arms and scurried down the end of the hall, turning around to wave his paw at Lee. “Pika pika pi!”

“You better follow him or he’ll leave you behind.” J mused, going back to the task at hand. Lee looked between the mountain of towels and back at her. Was it really OK to leave all this work to one person? Looking more closely, he could see the tiredness in her blue eyes and the sweat that was collecting on her forehead.

“...Do you need help?”

“Huh?”

“That looks like a lot of work for one person.”

“Oh.” She laughed nervously and waved him off. “Don’t worry about me, Lee. This is my last task for the day. You better catch up with Odin and your family.”

“OK...Take it easy when you’re done.” And with that he took off after the Pokemon, leaving J on her own with the laundry. Even though she couldn’t see his retreating back anymore, her eyes remained transfixed at the empty hallway.

She huffed to herself, amused by the strange, but considerate guy.

* * *

“Good morning, auntie. What are my tasks for the day?”

“Good morning, sweetie! You actually have no tasks today.”

“...Eh?” J looked blankly at her aunt. Did she not do a good job yesterday? Was she being replaced by someone who could do her job better? Her hands started to sweat from the theories swirling in her head, to which her aunt laughed lightly at the shock on her face.

“Stop over-thinking, young lady. Juliet, if some of the work is too much, you’re supposed to let me know.”

“But, it’s not too much!”

“Really? The son of one of our guests, Lee I believe, told me that you looked tired while you were doing the laundry. So, I’m giving you the next few days off to rest and relax.” Her aunt’s eyes softened. “I know how hard you’re working, sweetie, but you need to give yourself a break every now and again. You know I would never think less of you if you needed some time to recharge.”

J swallowed the lump in her throat. She couldn’t be mad at her aunt, nor Lee. They were only looking out for her, which was something she was still trying to accept thanks to the weight of insecurities that made accepting help, hard. Her aunt reminded her time and time again that she didn’t have to help out at the inn since this was technically her foster home, and therefore, she could do whatever she wanted. But, it’s for that reason that made her want to repay her aunt’s kindness and love. She wasn’t quite over the feeling of worthlessness so this was her way of coping with it as well. She sighed in defeat. “Alright. I’ll take it easy on my days off. But, if you need any help-”

“ _ Juliet. _ ”

“...Yes, ma’am.”

“Good girl. Now, go have breakfast with Courtney and our other guests.”

J bowed her head before excusing herself out of her aunt’s office. A few days off...How was she going to pass all of that time? Maybe she’ll spend the day at the Cycling Road and relax by the beach in Slateport City. Upon entering the dining room, Courtney enthusiastically waved her over to the table where she was sitting at.

“Good morning, big sis!”

“’Morning, Courtney.” She playfully ruffled her cousin’s bangs before grimacing at the maple syrup that covered her mouth and dripped down her chin. “Geez, are you eating pancakes or drinking maple syrup from the jug?”

“I’m eating pancakes but I put extra maple syrup! Don’t tell mom.”

“Oh, I’m definitely telling her.”

“Nooooo!”

“Alright, alright. I won’t tell her. But, at least clean your mouth so she can’t tell.” J lightly scolded. She went over to the open buffet and piled eggs, bacon, and fresh fruit on her plate before sitting next to her bubbly cousin. She listened idly to her babble on and on about the children's shows that she watched the other day, making occasional noises of acknowledgement as she ate her breakfast.

“Who was the boy you were talking to?”

“Hm? What boy?”

“Purple hair, yellow eyes, baseball hat? I saw him talking to you while you were working. Ohhh! Is he your boyfriend?”

If she could roll her eyes to the back of her head, she would. J groaned and slapped a hand over her face. Sometimes a child’s curiosity was nothing but trouble. “Courtney, sometimes people are just having a normal conversation.”

“But, he was blushing!”

“He was just embarrassed because he got lost.”

“...Oh.”

J was definitely going to do a few laps at the Cycling Road because of this conversation. Putting away her empty dish and thanking the servers, she went back to her room in search of her biking gear. It had been awhile since she went to the Cycling Road that she couldn’t find her gear from the drawers she sifted through.

“Dang it. Where are they? I don’t want to pay a fee to rent some out.” She turned to her closet and searched through the cardboard boxes until finally recognizing the straps of her helmet and knee caps that were buried underneath a bunch of nick knacks. Her breath got caught in her throat when she pulled them out, revealing what was hiding away at the very bottom of the box. A framed photo. Of her holding a trophy with her three Pokemon in frame, proudly smiling with her. J felt her chest tighten and her vision blur.

No. It was going to be OK. She left behind that life and things were different now. She piled all the junk she pulled, back into the box, burying the photo so she couldn’t see it anymore. She closed her eyes and held a hand over her chest.

_ Inhale. _

Exhale.

_ Inhale. _

Exhale.

“Pikachu?” She didn’t notice that Odin had crawled onto her lap until he called out for her. His ears were drooped, as if sensing his trainer’s anxiety. J smiled shakily and hugged him gently. He snuggled further into her arm and nuzzled his cheeks against hers.

“I’m OK. I found something that...brought back unpleasant memories. I’m going to the Cycling Road and then to the beach in Slateport City, wanna come?”

“Pika!”

* * *

“Ha...hah...” J braced herself on the handles of her bike, sweat pouring down her forehead. She reached for the water bottle strapped to her bike and chugged through half of its contents. Anything that she was worried about earlier was gone from her mind, the adrenaline pumping in her veins making her feel more euphoric than ever. Dropping off her rental bike, she walked down the path to Slateport City and basked in the sea breeze that cooled her sweat matted skin.

The beach was as crowded as ever, but it was a sight she could never get enough of. Seeing the happiness of people lounging on their towels or beach chairs, and splashing about in the water – it made her feel like all was right in the world and she could relax in peace.

“Big sis!”

Well, for the most part.

“Courtney?! What are you doing here by yourself?!”

“I’m not alone!” She pointed to where Lee and his family were resting along the beach. Holly lowered her sunglasses and waved the two girls down.

“Good afternoon! I hope you don’t mind that your cousin came with us to the beach.”

“Ah...I should be apologizing for that.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble! Your aunt told her that you would be here at the beach and since we were already planning on coming here, we let her come along.”

“Why didn’t you invite me?” Courtney pouted.

“Sorry, Courtney. I wanted to do some cycling first and you’re not old enough to use the Cycling Road yet.” J looked out to the ocean to see Lee and his brother shooting each other with water guns. Lee’s golden eyes lit up when he turned his head to see her and raised a hand to wave at her, only to be doused with a face full of water by his brother.

She snorted. “Looks like they’re having fun. Courtney, watch my stuff while I go change, will you?”

* * *

“That was so much fun!” Courtney squealed after removing her goggles and diving mouthpiece. “Your turn, baseball boy!”

“You saw him wearing a baseball hat once and  _ that’s _ what you’re going to call him?”

“Haha, I don’t mind.” Lee jumped into the water next to J and her Swampert. She motioned him to strap on his goggles and gestured to the diving mouthpiece.

“Ever used one of these before?”

“I’m guessing this is what helps you breathe underwater?”

“Yup, but just make sure you’re only breathing from your mouth and not your nose.” Placing the device into her mouth, she shot him a thumbs up before handing him the reigns that were strapped around her Pokemon. She patted her Swampert three times and he slowly submerged into the water, bringing them both down with him.

Lee’s first instinct was to hold his breath, not quite familiar with the device that was in his mouth. J tapped him on the shoulder and gestured to him to relax. He took a few cautious breaths from the device and immediately relaxed when feeling air enter his lungs. He gave her a thumbs up, which encouraged her Swampert to start swimming through the depths of the ocean.

The further they swam away from the shoreline, the more Pokemon that swam passed them until they were practically swimming with schools of Goldeen, Horsea, Wailmers – and other water Pokemon that were native to Hoenn waters. Lee’s eyes widened in complete awe. Never in his life had he seen anything this breathtaking and beautiful back in Galar. This was nothing compared to swimming along the docks of Hulbury.

And this was only the beginning. He hadn’t even seen the reefs yet.

Not only were they vibrant and countless, they were home to so many species of Pokemon that he couldn’t even begin to count. Clamperls sat peacefully along the base of the reefs, Gorebyss and Huntails swam through the branches and anemone, and there was an abundance of Corsola that appeared a lot more pink and cheerful than the Corsola that were native to his region.

His heart sank a little from the observation.

Lee snapped out of his thoughts when he felt her frantically tap him on the shoulder. He looked up at what she was pointing at and nearly choked on his diving mouthpiece. A Wailord swam over them, casting a dark shadow over whatever was swimming underneath.

Holy  _ crap _ , it was  **_massive!_ **

They waited for the Wailord to pass by before swimming back up to the surface. J removed her diving mouthpiece and smiled wide at Lee. “So, what do you think? Pretty incredible, right?”

“No kidding! Swimming alongside all of those Pokemon was...Man, I’ve never done that before! It was so cool!”

She giggled at his starry-eyed look. “Really? You can’t deep dive in your region?”

“Not that I know of. Galar isn’t really a region you go to for that kind of thing.”

“Galar, eh? I don’t think I’ve been there! What’s it like?”

“Well-”

“Luvdisc!!!” Their heads suddenly turned in the direction of the Pokemon’s cry. Both of their protective instincts kicked in, and they shared a look of mutual understanding before J commanded her Swampert to swim in the direction of the cry. They eventually came across a lone, baby Luvdisc, who was looking around worryingly for his pack.

“Hey, there. Are you lost?” J cooed gently. The Pokemon swam over to them and broke out into wails and cries, making her Swampert turn to her and nodded in confirmation. She took a quick look around, trying to find the tell-tale splash of pink on the ocean’s surface – a tell-tale indication of a Luvdisc pack.

“Lee, if you see anything pink on the ocean’s surface, let me know. That could be a Luvdisc pack.”

“Got it.”

J reached for the Pokeball hanging around her swim shorts and tossed it into the air, releasing her Flygon into the skies. “Tiki! Help us find this Luvdisc’s family!”

Lee reached for two Pokeballs strapped around his swim trunks and threw them up as well, freeing his ace Charizard and Aegislash. “You two help as well!”

* * *

The sun was beginning to set when J’s Swampert showed signs of becoming fatigue, to which she told him to relax and wait for their other Pokemon to return to them, hoping that they found something. Charizard and Tiki returned at the same time, shaking their heads sadly.

This wasn’t looking good. And the Luvdisc could tell.

“Luv...”

“Oh no, please don’t cry! Don’t worry! We’ll find your family!” Crap, she was going to start crying too at this rate. Leon anxiously waited for his Aegislash, and spotted it floating quickly over to them. The Pokemon motioned towards one direction before taking off.

“Just a little more, Hajime.” J encouraged him gently. Hajime huffed, but followed the Aegislash with Luvdisc in tow. As they came closer, multiple Luvdiscs surfaced, making the baby Luvdisc cry out gleefully and rush to his family’s side. The pack of Luvdisc surrounded the baby Pokemon, offering kisses, and what was probably a brief scolding, before turning to the group and crying out gratefully.

“You’re welcome!” J and Lee shouted back in unison. The baby Luvdisc quickly swam over to them, and gave them quick pecks on the cheek by leaping out of the water. Two Luvdiscs from the family approached them with something shiny on their body. Lee carefully reached out and plucked out two heart shaped scales from them.

“A thank you gift?”

“Looks like it. Thank you! Safe travels!” J waved to the pack. They dove back into the water, one by one. The baby Luvdisc gave them one final glance before following his family back into the ocean.

* * *

“What took you guys so long?!”

“We thought something bad happened!!”

J and Lee had their heads lowered in shame, as Holly comforted both Courtney and Hop against either side of her while they cried out about how worried they were. Holly looked at Leon with narrowed eyes. “Lee. Did you forget about what we talked about before we left?”

“No...I didn’t, mum. I’m sorry-”

“Wait! It’s not just his fault! We should have let you know where we were and what we were doing. But...We didn’t want to leave a baby Pokemon on their own.” J interrupted. Lee looked at her with surprise. She didn’t have to defend him or shoulder the blame. She met his gaze and gave him an empathetic smile. He answered with a gentle grin of his own and mouthed a ‘thanks’. Holly looked between the two teenagers and sighed exasperatedly. They were only trying to do a good thing and for that, she couldn’t be mad at either of them.

“...I understand. But, next time, if you have to go off somewhere for some reason, please let us know. It would break our hearts if something happened.”

“Yes, ma’am...”

“Good. Now, let’s pack up and head back to the inn.”

* * *

The walk back was uncomfortably quiet. It seemed like Hop and Courtney didn’t quite forgive them yet, opting to give them the cold shoulder as an added measure to prove how upset they were. It was very much deserved, from J and Lee’s perspective.

But, at the same time, Lee couldn’t help but feel...a little nostalgic by the punishment. Ever since becoming Champion, he spent years being molded into a perfect role model for the people of Galar; he had forgotten what it felt like to make mistakes. He couldn’t exactly afford to. He still remembered the mistakes he made before then, though. How his mother would scold him for not sharing his toys or for switching the channel to something he wanted to watch.

It felt strange to admit that making mistakes felt...good. Enlightening. He was still rather young, and yet he was expected to act that of a 25+ year old at 16. He was going to cherish this vacation while it lasted – where he can just be himself for two weeks in a region where no one knew who he was or where he came from.

He looked over to J, remembering the way she was in tune with him in deciding to help the baby Luvdisc, and how she shouldered the blame with him. He thought it was his responsibility to bear the weight of burdens to lighten the load of everyone else, but to have someone step in to take off some of that weight, it made him feel lighter and more free.

There was still a lot he didn’t know about her, but from the little that he did gather from their interactions, he was grateful for her helpful attitude and considerate spirit.

In his heart, he wanted to be her friend. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the first 'Memory Chapter' of this fanfic! Since they're meant to be snippets into Juliet's memory, there's actually only two other Memory Chapters overall, with the third and final one set to drop near the latter half of this fanfic. 
> 
> As always, please consider leaving a kudos or comment since it makes me happy to receive any sort of feedback! You can find me on Twitter @PigeonSenpai and on Tumblr @carefreejules!


	7. Burns from the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shaken from a nightmare, Juliet comes to terms that it was time to talk to her team about her past, and the deep rooted anxieties and insecurities that came with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should have mentioned this earlier but there will be more references to Twilight Wings throughout the fanfic because I love that shorts series to death!

**Chapter 5 - Burns from the Past**

****

* * *

_A voice._

_A voice she didn’t recognize._

_It was faint, but it was definitely a voice._

_Was she still by the shore? She swore she could hear the distant splash of the tides, but it felt like she was lying down somewhere wet, muddy. It was an unpleasant shift from the warm sand she lay on before._

_A voice._

_What was it saying?_

_She still couldn’t move._

_Panic rose in her chest upon sensing something approaching her unmoving body from behind. All she had to do was turn her head, but the cruel nature of the nightmare wouldn’t even give her that._

_“Champion-”_

* * *

Juliet’s eyes shot open and her body sprung up instinctively from the shock jerking awake so suddenly. Beads of sweat ran down her cheeks and her hands were shaking uncontrollably. She wheezed out each breath she took, feeling her heart pounding so loudly she could hear it. 

That...That was bad.

“Trapinch?” Pistachio called out sleepily. The shiny Traphinch rose from the far end of her bed and slowly waddled over to her. Juliet shakily scooped him up in her arms and nearly hugged him a bit too tightly. Pistachio didn’t seem to mind, nuzzling his head into her cheek to calm her down. 

“Thank you, Pistachio...I-I think I’m OK now…” Despite loosening her hold on the baby Trapinch, he still clung to the front of her shirt just in case. Her heart melted from her Pokemon’s affection and crawled back under the covers, holding Pistachio to her chest into the early hours of the morning. 

It felt like she was being toyed with, by her own subconscious no less. Relying on the few normal dreams for comfort was starting to be more trouble than it was worth, since the warmth that she’d feel in those dreams would be frozen over by the harshness of her nightmares. 

She really wasn’t feeling up to today’s shoot over at Motostoke’s Gym.

Was the Battle Cafe open already? Maybe she should pay an early visit to get something to treat herself. 

Now all she had to do was get out of bed with an adorable Trapinch snoozing in her arms.

“Sorry, Pistachio. I’m gonna get up so I can go to the Battle Cafe. Wanna come?”

“Tra….pinch…” He muttered sleepily. 

She’ll take that as a yes.

* * *

“Good morning, Juliet! Richard told me you’d be in Motostoke for the next few days....Wait, are you OK? You look kind of upset.”

“I’m alright, Dwight. Nothing like a cup of pecha tea can’t fix.” Juliet ordered from the Cafe Master of Motostoke. He gave her a knowing nod and went off to make her drink while she found a comfortable seat in the corner. She carefully set down Pistachio on the ground, while setting down a container of Pokemon food for his breakfast. He immediately dove into his food, chomping away without restraint.

If only she could be so carefree…

“One cup of pecha tea and a bacon and egg breakfast sandwich.” Dwight announced, laying down her drink and food in front of her.

“I didn’t order the sand-”

Dwight winked at her and gave her a somewhat rough pat on the back. “It’s on me, kid. Get your fuel up for the day, OK?”

Juliet’s shoulders relaxed. “Thank you, Dwight.”

He walked away with a playful salute, as she took a sip of her tea and bit into the sandwich that was offered to her. She was already starting to feel better, not just from her breakfast, but from sitting in the comforting environment that was the Battle Cafe. She almost wished she could take more shifts so she could go back to the life of calm from working as a barista. 

But, working as a co-host wasn’t so bad. Their participation was slowly starting to pay off, as they garnered more fans who wanted to see them partake in variety-like shows on a more regular basis. 

And then there were the fans who felt neglected by their lack of Max Raid Battles. 

_“Sell outs.”_

_“Go back to battling instead of running your mouths for the Gym Challenge.”_

_“Man, I thought you guys were the real deal but cash and fame is what you really care about huh.”_

These were only a few of the negative comments they got, but the bluntness of their remarks still stung. Especially to her. 

“A Shiny Trapinch? I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before.”

Juliet looked down at her foot to see an empty container, save for the few crumbs of Pokemon food. Her eyes followed the trail of crumbs that her Trapinch left behind, leading up to him receiving head pats from the Fire-type Gym Leader himself, Kabu. He looked over to her and chuckled. “Is he yours?”

“Yes. Sorry about that, Kabu. Come here, Pistachio!” She cooed. The baby Pokemon obediently waddled back to his trainer and settled comfortably in her lap when she picked him up. She motioned for the Gym Leader to take a seat across from her, which he gladly took with a cup of coffee in hand.

“So, Kabu,” Juliet hummed. “Why did you come to the Galar region?”

“I was invited. I trained every day on Mt. Chimney when someone representing the Galar League recognized my power and affinity with fire Pokemon. I could have very well become the Fire-type Gym Leader for Lavaridge Town, but seeing as I wanted to push myself to the limit, I thought it would be good to train in a new region, under new conditions. For discipline, is what I told myself.” Kabu answered.

“Every day? Didn’t all the raining ash get in the way?”

“At first I did, but I saw it as a challenge and got used to it over time.”

“Wow…” Thinking about the ash that blanketed the path, trees, and mountainous slopes made her want to break out into a sneezing fit. Not to mention the process of collecting the ash itself to get all the flutes. “There’s no volcanoes here in Galar, so where do you train now?”

“Route 9.” 

Now she felt a chill down her spine. 

“What about you, Juliet? Based on the footage from Milo and Nessa’s Gym, you seem to be a capable trainer. I’m sure your parents are proud of you.” Kabu noted casually. 

She knew he didn’t mean to stab at a sensitive nerve, but she visibly tensed up at the off-handed compliment. Flattery wasn’t her immediate reaction, but rather, a bitterness welled up in the pit of her stomach that made her chuckle dryly in response. She swallowed the large lump in her throat and tried to muster a sheepish smile, but she felt her lips twitch from the rising distress bubbling in her throat. If she lied, she knew he wouldn’t believe her. “They were proud of me once, but they’re not a part of my life anymore.”

Kabu’s eyes widened before softening apologetically. “...I see. I’m sorry for what I said. I didn’t mean to bring up a sensitive topic.”

Juliet shook her head and smiled gently. “It’s alright, Kabu. I know you didn’t mean it.”

“Still, if you’re ever feeling up to it, I’d love to have a battle with you one day. From a Hoennian trainer to another, yes?” Kabu asked with a relaxed smile. 

Juliet smiled gently and sipped her tea. “I’d be honored, Kabu. Talking with you reminds me of talking to my uncle back in Lavaridge Town.”

“Oh, is that your hometown as well?”

“No, no. I was born in Lilycove City but I moved out of my parent’s house and into my aunt and uncle’s home when I was about 12.” She looked down at her tea with sorrowful eyes. She really didn’t want to unload her emotional baggage to Kabu, but regarding him as a kind mentor of sorts made her more inclined to trust him on top of being able to relate to him personally since they came from the same region. “...My aunt and uncle adopted me.”

Kabu lowered his cup, his jaw dropped and his eyes wide with shock. “I’m sorry...I had no idea you went through something so rough."

“Don’t apologize, Kabu. I’ve been through a lot but...My aunt, uncle, and cousin love me. I have friends that I can trust. I may have broken off from the family who’ve raised me, but I’m happier now than I was then.” That’s what she kept telling herself, but she always felt haunted by those memories. It made it difficult to look back at some of the happier times without feeling crushed by the downfall. 

Maybe it was something that couldn’t go away for good.

“But, I can see how much it’s still weighing on you. I can only imagine how this type of pain takes years and years for someone to heal from.” Kabu pulled out his Rotom phone. “Are you sure you’re going to be OK for today’s shoot? I can work something out with the camera crew and reschedule?”

“No, it’s OK! I plan on actually talking to my friends about it in more detail after the shoot. I came here to get my fuel up and calm my anxiety. If anything, I should be sorry for thrusting my problems onto you.” Taking the day off would be nice, but Juliet didn’t want to trouble the crew and director to reschedule. She was a little under the weather, but not completely debilitated. 

Just a little more and then she’ll cut herself some slack.

“Please, don’t worry about me. As one of the older Gym Leaders, I can’t help but look out for challengers and trainers I come across. After all, we are all burdened with our own problems so, the least we can do is be there for each other. Let’s exchange numbers while I’m at it. I don’t know how much help I can provide, but I’m always available to listen if you need it. We can also meet in person and we can chat over green tea and Lava Cookies?”

Lava Cookies...When was the last time she had one of those? Thinking about the nostalgic treat brought a smile to her face.

“That sounds nice, Kabu. Thank you.”

* * *

“Chairman Rose.”

“Ahh, good afternoon, Leon. What can I help the Champion of Galar with?”

Leon bit his lip nervously. Damnit. Now was not the time to shirk away from what he had spent the whole morning rehearsing in his head over and over. This wasn’t necessarily the first time he made a request for his schedule to be adjusted, but it never involved notable changes like cancellations or making requests for things he wanted to do. It wasn’t like he had any real background in the world of business, so any request he wanted to make could very well go against Chairman Rose’s overall business plan. That could spell a rejection, but he wanted to take some sort of leadership over what he could do and there was nothing to lose from making harmless suggestions, right?

“I...I’d like to propose something in regards to my schedule.”

“Oh?” Rose had been looking out to Wyndon through the glass window panes and it wasn’t until Leon made that statement that he turned around to look at him. He looked...neutral. Which meant he was open to what he had in mind. 

That was a reassuring first step.

“I’d like to participate in more charity events. Galar already knows my face well enough, but I want them to learn more about me. I want to inspire strength and courage in a more direct way, and make people feel that they have the power to do great things, regardless of where they come from in life.” Leon clenched his fists. “Chairman, when you first endorsed me as Champion, what about me stood out to you?”

Rose twirled his hair and hummed thoughtfully. “Hmmm...Perhaps I was taken in by your fiery spirit. You didn’t let your young age hinder you from progress or showing the region what uninhibited strength looked like.”

“Exactly. To all the children and even the current challengers who want to show off their strengths, I want them to know that they can get there. Because I was no different from them when I started out.”

The silence that lingered over their heads when those words left his mouth was almost suffocating. Did Leon overstep a boundary? Was he being too emotional or selfish? Even his palms started sweating as Rose let his words sink in in silence. 

Then, Rose smiled.

“Very well. I had no idea you had such passionate ideals and I’m honestly moved that you’ve opened up to me about it. Perhaps I haven’t given you as much freedom as I should have.” Rose looked over at Oleana, who nodded and already started to type away on her computer.

“Your schedule for the week remains unchanged, but after that, I’ll give you a bit more control on events you’d like to participate in. And, I trust you won’t get carried away with this, yes?”

“Of course not, Chairman. Thank you very much for being understanding.” Leon tipped his hat graciously. He tried not to get too excited about his opportunities, but the wide grin on his face was very telling. 

“Actually, since we’re on this topic,” Rose sifted through the stacks of paper and documents that littered his desk, and eventually pulled out an envelope that had a scribbled drawing of Leon and Charizard. 

“What’s that?”

“A personal request to me and you. A child by the name of John gave this to me as Oleana and myself were leaving the hospital after one of our visits.” Rose looked at the drawing with a fond smile. “He’s a big fan of you and dreams of coming to your matches one day. But, due to his condition, it’s not easy for him. I was thinking that the next time I visit the children at the hospital, why don’t you join me?”

Leon nodded eagerly at the offer. “I’d love to, Chairman!”

“Good. I’ll let the hospital know and Oleana will mark the date on your upcoming schedule. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss, Leon?”

“No, sir. That’s all for now. Thank you for your time.” The Champion tipped his hat one more time out of politeness and walked out of the office and towards the elevators. Once he was inside, he let out an excited ‘Yes!’ while pumping his fist in the air. 

* * *

“Sir, are you sure this is wise?” Oleana asked.

“Do not worry, Oleana. Sometimes you have to bend a little to make others bend _more_ in your favour.”

* * *

“Heh, my first win.” Vanquil boasted proudly, twirling Kabu’s rare League card between his fingers. 

“As expected from someone who can throw curveballs so effortlessly.” Tessu chuckled. 

The Motostoke shoot came and went, with Vanquil taking the win for racking up 10 points first for catching the wild Fire Pokemon that were scattered all over the gym. It was a nice change from the last two challenges, where they competed at the same time to see who could catch 10 points worth of Pokemon first. They weren’t allowed to use their own Pokemon, so it was a challenge to work with the rental Pokemon that they were given specifically for the challenge. 

One could say Vanquil using a Charmander was cheating considering his ace was a Charizard, but the others took the easy route of picking Pokemon that had the type advantage over Fire-types. 

“Hey, Jules.” Mary called out suddenly. Juliet stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at her.

“Yeah?”

“You’ve been...kind of off lately. Back at Nessa’s shoot and now Kabu’s shoot, you’ve been wandering off in the morning by yourself.” Mary frowned. “Why haven’t you told us what’s wrong?”

Juliet inhaled deeply through her nose. She promised herself earlier that she was going to tell them everything. Dragging it on any longer would just continue to eat away at her until there was nothing left. She sighed and motioned them to follow her. She led them to a park on the lower level of Motostoke City that was luckily void of people for the evening, and she settled down on one of the benches. Her friends sat down next to her, patiently waiting for her to unveil what she had been keeping from them. 

“...How would you guys feel if I told you I was a Champion at one point?” Juliet laid out nonchalantly, like she was just asking about the weather. 

Their eyes widened and their bodies tensed up rigidly. Juliet shouldn’t have been so surprised by their shock, but it made her shy away from the reveal anyway. She hesitantly rubbed her arms before folding her hands over her lap.

“Probably didn’t expect that from me, huh?”

“N-No, it’s just - I mean-” Vanquil stammered. 

“...You’ve always been on the more humble side so the idea of you being a Champion is a bit…unexpected.” Tessu replied softly. 

Juliet sighed. “I know. I wasn’t always this humble. I was a happy-go-lucky kid but I was pretty indecisive with what I wanted to be. I don’t think that helped my parents much.”

* * *

_“Juliet, now that you’re 10 years old, what do you want to be?”_

_“Hmmmm...I want to be a Pokemon Coordinator!”_

_“I’m sorry, but you know your father and I don’t have enough money to spend on a costume for you or your Pokemon. Why don’t you go to school and be a Pokemon nurse?”_

_“But, I don’t like hospitals! And needles are scary.”_

_“Sometimes you have to do things you don’t like in order to make money.”_

_“But, why? I want to have fun!”_

_“Life isn’t about fun. You have to work so you can provide for yourself and your family.”_

_“Does that mean I can’t be a Pokemon Trainer either?”_

_“The outside world is so dangerous! You might get hurt or worse!”_

_“But, all the other kids my age are doing it! Why can’t I?”_

_“Because-”_

_“Juliet, listen to your mother. Think about it a bit more. Pokemon nurse is a great job! You’ll make mommy and daddy really proud.”_

_“Really?”_

_“Really!”_

* * *

“My parents wanted me to follow what my brother was doing. Medicine. It was a lot more secure and unpredictable than being a Pokemon Trainer or Coordinator. I watched kids my age go off to have adventures of their lives while I watched from the window, buried in chemistry books.”

“You...don’t mention your brother often.” Mary noted sadly.

“He’s 12 years older than me, so we never really saw each other much. He was always in his room studying and my parents were adamant that I shouldn’t bother him. If I’m honest…” Juliet looked down to her lap. “I never really liked him. I mean, I didn’t even know him. I still don’t.”

* * *

_“Juliet, Professor Birch is hosting a Pokemon Camp for aspiring trainers! Why don’t you participate with your cousin?”_

_“I...I don’t know. Mom and dad don’t like me thinking about being a Pokemon trainer.”_

_“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll be in good hands and it’ll be a good experience for you!”_

_“...O-OK. I want to go!”_

* * *

“Just like my aunt said, it was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. I didn’t have to worry about my parents watching over my shoulder. It was just me, my cousin, the other kids, nature, and Pokemon all around us. I...I loved it. If I couldn’t be a Pokemon Coordinator, I wanted to at least be a Pokemon trainer. Somehow, they reluctantly let me go on my Pokemon journey.”

* * *

_“Call us immediately if you want to come home.”_

_“I know, mom, I’ll be fine!”_

_“Make sure to clean up after yourself and-”_

_“Mom! I get it! Don’t worry. I’ll call often to tell you how I am and if something happens.”_

_“OK. Good bye and good luck out there.”_

* * *

“My first Pokemon ever was Mudkip, given to me by Professor Birch. He...He was actually disowned by a previous trainer so he was skittish and rowdy when I got him. But knowing that he was badly treated, it made me want to give him the love and chance he deserved. In a way, I probably thought my parents did the same for me when they finally let me do what I wanted. It was hard, but slowly and surely, we became unstoppable. From a frightened Mudkip, he evolved into a strong, confident Swampert. We both trusted each other like best friends, companions. Along the way Odin joined us and then Tiki evolved from a Trapinch to a Flygon. We all wanted to show the world what we were really made of. And we did – we beat the Elite Four and I became Champion.”

* * *

_“We’re so proud of you, Juliet!”_

_“We always knew you could do it!”_

_“Hehe, thank you, mom and dad! I couldn’t have done it without my Pokemon.”_

_“I can’t wait to tell the rest of the family and all of our friends. They’re going to be so proud of you.”_

_“What do you want to eat tonight, Champ? You can have anything you want!”_

_“Yay!”_

* * *

“After soaking up the praise that I got, from both my parents, my brother, and the public, I started to notice something...Hate, from other trainers.” Juliet felt her eyes getting watery, finally getting to the hardest part of her past. She hated crying, even if she knew it was a natural response to any unpleasant feelings and reactions. 

But, trying to hold it in only hurt her more. 

“Hate? Or maybe it was jealousy?” Tessu thought out loud.

“It was probably both. I don’t really know. When you’re a kid and you’ve accomplished something as big as becoming Champion, you can’t help but think everything is all sunshine and rainbows that anything otherwise just...puts you through a loop. I don’t remember clearly and frankly, I don’t really want to, but trainers then had their own reasons to be bitter towards me. I was young, I used only three Pokemon, and even just because I was a _girl_. Hell, the media even hopped onto the band wagon when they noticed my confidence beginning to wane. And then just like a snowball, the pressure began to build up. It was...a real slap in the face of reality of how spiteful people were…”

“No kidding...And you were only just a kid for Arceus sake! What the _hell_ is wrong with people?” Vanquil spat. 

“All this eventually got to me and my confidence as a Champion. My parents didn’t really do anything about it besides telling me to toughen up and stop crying. Admittedly, I wasn’t very strong emotionally as a kid so to me, it felt like the whole world was against me. The praises from them stopped too and one thing led to another and...I lost my title as Champion, after only being one for a few months. It wasn’t so bad though, since the one who beat me was an old friend named Brendan that I met at the Pokemon Camp. He was the only trainer who wasn’t bitter towards me so, I’d like to think it helped me fight my hardest until the end. But, what came after…” Juliet closed her eyes, letting the tears fall and her mouth tightened. 

* * *

_“Now that you’ve lost, what are you going to do now?”_

_“I...I don’t know. I can train up more Pokemon and try again-”_

_“What makes you think you’ll win again? You’re letting this foolish dream get to your head! No, I won’t allow it. In a few years, I’m going to enroll you in nursing school.”_

_“But, I don’t want that!”_

_“Then what do you want?! You can’t just live the rest of your life bouncing between professions on a whim! Don’t you care about your future?!”_

_“Of course I care! Why are you being so hard on me, dad?! You weren’t like this with Matthew!”_

_“That’s because he listened to me and became successful! But you, you haven’t and if you keep this up, I don’t think you ever will.”_

* * *

“What the actual **_shit._ **” Vanquil fumed, clenching his fists hard enough that his knuckles turned white. Tessu and Mary were right there with him, feeling their own anger boil in their chests over their friend’s cruel father.

“At that point, I didn’t know what I wanted to do and hearing my own dad tell me that I would never be successful in his eyes, I...” Juliet choked back the sobs that were rising in her throat. “I locked myself away in my room for who knows how long until another bitter argument with my dad ensued and at that point, I had enough. That night, I packed whatever I could, and I ran away from that place, and arrived at my aunt’s inn looking like a Sobble. She, my uncle, and cousin, were the only relatives who cared and loved me unconditionally. All my parents cared about was turning me into a trophy to show off and leech off of. My aunt has been so gracious enough to let me travel with her so I could smile again, to look forward to the future. I wanted to pay her back for everything she had done for me so I helped around her inn before setting off on another journey where I met you guys. When I told her and my uncle that I had a stable job here in Galar and that it made me happy, they were overjoyed.”

“Did she ever...mention you to your parents?” Mary asked carefully.

“I don’t think so. She didn’t speak to my parents much anymore when she took me in, so it probably stayed that way.” Juliet wiped her tears with her sleeve. “I think it’s better this way though. My parents don’t deserve to know how I am after the hell they’ve put me through.”

“So...the things you’ve been having nightmares about-” Tessu started. 

“Yeah...I think it’s from anxiety about the past. One hell of a timing too.”

“Well...Aren’t nightmares usually caused by stress or something? I mean, if you were fine for years and these nightmares are showing up more frequently than usual, doesn’t that seem kind of suspicious? What if there’s an underlying cause for them to be recurring?” Mary pointed out. Juliet let out an exasperated sigh and shrugged. 

“I’ve also thought that too. But, where would I even start?”

“Uhhh...Maybe get a check up?” Tessu suggested bluntly.

“Ughhh...I hate going to the doctor…” Juliet grumbled while slumping down on the bench. “But, when I started to live with my aunt and uncle, my aunt hired a therapist for me and that really helped when I needed it. Maybe I need to see one again…”

“I think that’s a step in the right direction! We’ll even go with you if you want.”

“...Thanks. I’ll check in with my doctor to book an appointment, and ask if she knows any good therapists that I can talk to. I’ll let you guys know…Thanks for listening and sorry if I made you guys depressed.”

“You seriously apologize too much.” Tessu waved off the comment.

“Yeah. Don’t worry about us. We’re worried about you. I can only imagine how hard it was for you to even talk about it.” Mary wrapped her arms around Juliet, giving her a reassuring squeeze. “We’ll always love and be proud of you, Jules.”

Vanquil wrapped his arms around her too. “Seriously. We got your back. We’ll deal with any assholes that try to give you trouble.”

“Geez, Vanquil. Mind scooting over so I can join in this hug too?” Tessu somehow wormed her arms around Juliet’s waist. “Best friends forever!”

Juliet felt...uncomfortable being sandwiched in this awkward group hug. But, it made her feel pleasantly warm inside. Now that her friends finally knew and she was going to hopefully get to the bottom of everything, maybe tonight’s dream would be a pleasant one. 

And even if it wasn’t, her friends will be there when she wakes up from it. 

* * *

**Pokegram of the Day**

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We finally gotten to the first emotional chapter of the fanfic that unveils the past, but it doesn't end there. This is just the tip of the iceberg! I hope you guys will look forward to the emotional roller coaster that will follow in the upcoming chapters!
> 
> There will be another double chapter upload next week (one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday!), and one of the chapters will actually be a 'Side Chapter' which will explore other characters and their relationships! I took a lot of inspiration from Twilight Wings, which is the shorts series for Pokemon Sword and Shield and on the day I write this is the day before the last episode, which is going to be really emotional for me I feel! The short series does a really good job at character building in such a short time frame and that's what I want the Side Chapters to be like. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reaching the end and as always, please leave a kudos and or comment if you'd like! If you like my art, consider following me on Twitter @PigeonSenpai or my Tumblr @ carefreejules!


	8. Side Chapter - Two Sides of the Same Coin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raihan wasn't one to brood over a defeat, but he's feeling a bit more high strung than usual and takes a walk to clear his head. He unknowingly ends up at the Pokemon Daycare Centre on Route 5 where he meets someone who shares some of his insecurities.

**Side Chapter - Two Sides of the Same Coin**

* * *

“Good battle, mate.”

“Likewise, Raihan! The Gym Challengers this year will have their work cut out for them when they get to you.” Leon smirked, tipping his hat out of respect and reached out to shake his hand. “Well, I better get going-”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Raihan chuckled as his Rotom phone hovered above them both, ready to take a photo. 

“Oh, right!” Leon laughed. His eyes followed the Rotom phone to properly get in frame as his best friend casually slung his arm around his shoulder and threw a peace sign at the camera. 

“Bzzzt! Photo saved!”

“Thanks Rotom. I’ll talk to you later, Leon!” Grabbing his floating Rotom, Raihan strapped his Ultra Balls containing his Pokemon back into his belt before walking off of the field and into the hall leading to the locker room. He opened his usual locker, where he had a spare Dragon Gym uniform hung up along with polaroid photos of himself and his Pokemon over the years, taped all over the inside of his locker. 

He eyed each of them with a nostalgic grin, fondly reminiscing the days of his youth bouncing between Gyms and training his Pokemon in the Wild Area during his Gym Challenge. Despite maintaining his passion and love for battles and Pokemon, he missed experiencing the child-like wonder and excitement over winning battles. Losing battles weren’t easy to deal with, but at least as a kid, the loss was only felt for him. The only thing that he could really lose during the Gym Challenge was progress, but even then, he trained even harder to get back on his feet. 

People didn’t have high expectations of him then, unlike how they do now. 

He wasn’t one to get hung up on what people thought of him, but there were days where even he felt more vulnerable than usual that any back-handed comment could catch him off guard. 

Today was one of those days.

Raihan looked through his phone’s album, mentally counting how many ‘defeat’ selfies he took with Leon up to today’s match. The sting of defeat would linger for longer, with each selfie that was taken after losing. He was almost hesitant about posting the selfie, but forced himself too, mentally convincing himself that it would be something to look back on with accomplishment when he finally did defeat Leon.

**@DragonLeaderRaihan:** Good match today @GalarChampLeon! Let’s meet up again for another battle.

He didn’t need to type out that he lost because his followers always knew. Not even a minute passed after posting and there were already a flood of comments pouring in.

_“Lol looks like he lost again”_

_“Is he even trying?”_

_“Maybe if you spent less time taking selfies you’d be able to beat Leon”_

Raihan scowled, roughly swiping Pokegram to the left to close it. Was he trying? Of _course_ he was! Arceus knows how many hours he would spend at Lake of Outrage training up his Pokemon. Take less selfies? Can’t a guy _live_ a little? 

He sighed. He wasn’t going to let his bitterness fester any further. Slamming his locker shut, he gathered his things, and briskly walked out of Hammerlocke Stadium to go for a walk or something. 

He just needed to clear his head.

* * *

Raihan didn’t really notice where exactly he was going. He was just letting his feet take him anywhere at this point. He might have passed a sign that said ‘Route 5’ but he didn’t pay much attention to it. However, once he heard the babbles of baby Pokemon and the coos of the Daycare workers, he stopped to check his surroundings. 

Oh, he ended up at the Pokemon Daycare Centre on Route 5. 

He turned on his heel to leave since he had no business at the Daycare, until a baby Trapinch had wandered over to him, clearly curious about him. 

Damn, he really couldn’t resist not petting one of his favourite Pokemon, and a baby for that matter. He got on his knees and reached out to pet the pit ant Pokemon through the fence, but retracted his hand. He wondered if he should ask permission first, though. 

“H-Hello, Raihan.”

Raihan raised his head to see the owner of the voice and grinned. “Hey. Mary, right?”

“That’s right. Oh! Did you want to pet the Trapinch?” Mary picked up the baby Pokemon and cradled the little girl in her arms. “Or maybe you want to hold her?”

“Holding her sounds good if that’s alright.” 

“Of course. Just be gentle with her.” Once she handed him the baby Trapinch, it immediately snuggled up against the front of his dragon hoodie and made soft chomping sounds. It felt like his heart melted into goo and he felt significantly better than he did just a moment ago. 

“Hee hee, she seems to like you.”

“Of course she does, I have a natural affinity towards Dragon Pokemon.”

“Well, she’s not a dragon yet.” Mary giggled. “Did you come all the way here to visit some baby Pokemon? Or would you like us to take care of yours?”

“Ahh, no. I was just...passing through.” Raihan answered quietly. Mary stared at him intently, noticing how his usual demeanor was a lot more...subdued than usual. 

“Is everything alright?”

Raihan feigned a cough and straightened his back. “Everything’s fine. I’m having a bit of an off day but we all have those days, yeah?”

“You’re right but, correct me if I’m wrong and sorry if I am - are you feeling a little down from losing against Leon?”

His shoulders deflated in defeat. “You saw right through me, huh?”

“O-Oh no, it was just a hunch. I follow your Pokegram account so I saw the recent selfie you posted.”

He smiled a little. “You a fan?”

“I am, though I’ve always been a little too shy to comment.” Mary answered with a light blush. Remembering she was still on the clock, she turned to the litter of Eevees that she was tending to and saw that they were slowly waking up from their nap. But, she felt guilty leaving Raihan when he was in low spirits. 

“Why don’t you come in, Raihan? I have a litter of Eevees to feed but why not take a look around at some of the Pokemon here? Baby Pokemon tend to have a positive effect on trainers so maybe it’ll be the same for you!” She opened the gate for him and he walked through with the baby Trapinch fast asleep in his arms. 

“So, you work at the Daycare on top of working for the League?”

Mary gently scooped up one of the baby Eevees and began feeding it with a baby bottle full of warm milk. “Mhm. Though, if I’m being honest, this is more my element than being a host. But, working with my friends is what makes the job for the Gym Challenge fun.”

“You definitely look the part. And the baby Pokemon seemed to agree.” Raihan chuckled, referring to the other baby Eevees who were patiently waiting to be fed by nuzzling Mary’s legs. She lovingly cooed the Eeevee she was holding before picking up a different one. 

“The best thing about this job is knowing that the baby Pokemon will always love and rely on you to take care of them.” Mary said softly. “Between Jules, myself, Vanquil, and Tessu, I’m the quieter one, which sometimes makes me feel like I’m not doing enough for them. And sometimes, I can’t help but take comments personally about it.”

Raihan’s eyes softened. “So, you get harsh comments too, huh?”

Mary frowned but nodded. “And it’s not just that. I’m a bit...on the bigger size. I always try to preach body positivity, but that doesn’t stop commenters from saying things like ‘eat less’ or ‘go to a gym’ even though I’m perfectly healthy.” She sighed and cradled the baby Eevee a little closer. 

“It’s hard putting yourself out there when there are people who will only focus on one side of you.”

“...I know how you feel.” Raihan took a seat in the soft grass and carefully laid the Trapinch in his lap. 

As much as he thrived off of his life on social media, it does take a toll on him sometimes in ways that challenge his pride and insecurities. Sure, he posted defeat selfies every now and then, but he always posted the good part of his life whether it involved getting new clothes or being proud after a gruelling workout. And on the battlefield? He was a whole different person - turning fierce and ruthless towards his opponents to display his raw prowess as the strongest Gym Leader in Galar. 

His audience probably thought he had thick skin, like a dragon and thus, incapable of being bothered by what people said about him.

But, that couldn’t be _further_ from the truth. 

“I often get comments telling me that I’m not working hard enough or that I’m slacking off and that’s why I can’t beat Leon. But, what do they know? Do they see me training my ass off in the Wild Area?” Raihan let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m more than just a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield and I’m more than just Leon’s rival.”

Mary nodded knowingly. “It’d be nice if people were more considerate that there are other sides to us aside from what we show.”

“Sigh, if only. But, what can you do, right? As much as it grinds my gears, I am grateful for the genuine support that I do have.”

“And you can count me as one of them.” Mary admitted honestly. 

Raihan’s smile widened. “Really?”

“Yeah...I look up to you, both figuratively and literally, hehe. Your confidence and passion inspire me to push myself to be more...assertive and brave. If I’m being honest, I’m mustering up a lot of courage right now from just talking to you.” Mary smiled sheepishly. “Sometimes people look at me in a certain way when they talk to me, so I can’t help but be a little paranoid when talking to someone new.”

“I’m an easy-going guy so, don’t be nervous around me, OK? From this meeting alone, I can tell you’re a really kind and down to earth woman, Mary. You’re doing great, so keep your chin up.”

Mary’s eyes brightened from his encouragement. “Thank you, Raihan. That means a lot to me. You’re a considerate person yourself and I’ll always be supporting you.”

“Heh, thanks Mary. I’ll take that to heart.” Raihan slowly removed the baby Trapinch off of his lap and handed her over back to Mary. “Thanks for the talk. I feel motivated to get back to training!”

“I’m glad! Feel free to visit again anytime.” 

“I will. But, before I go,” Raihan fished through his pockets until he pulled out his rare trainer card from his pocket. He scribbled something at the back of it before he offered it to her with a coy wink. “A little something as thanks.”

Mary blinked at the card and gingerly accepted it with shaky hands. “T-Thank you. Good luck with your training.”

“Thanks! I’ll see you around, Mary!” Raihan left with a wave, leaving Mary to contemplate his League card that he gifted her. Turning the card over to see what he scribbled at the back, her face flushed bright red that it even reached her ears. 

_It was his number._

* * *

Juliet was taken aback when Mary came out of nowhere, interrupting her little archery competition against her Decidueye, Takumi, that she was in the middle of in the archery range of the recreational center in Wyndon. Her best friend gripped her by both her shoulders, making her drop her bow and arrow onto the ground. Mary’s face was completely flushed, which led Juliet to believe that she was running a high fever or perhaps just out of breath from running all the way to her. 

“Whoa. What’s up, Mary? Your face could put Tamato berries to shame.”

“Jules,” Mary started, lifting her head to look at her friend right in her eyes. Oh wow, she looked dead serious. Juliet couldn’t recall a time where she looked so stern.

“How would you react if a guy gave you his number?”

“Uhhh...Depends on the guy. If it’s a dude I’ve been getting along with, he probably just wants to chat some more. If it was a stranger, then that’s just plain creepy-”

“Raihan gave me his number.”

Juliet’s eyes widened in surprise, before her shock morphed into something more smug. Her smirk widened. “Oho. Did you ask for it? That’s pretty bold of you-”

“No, I didn’t ask for it!!” Mary stammered, ears practically steaming with embarrassment. “He was passing through the Daycare Centre and he seemed a little upset so we talked and he just. Gave me his number.”

“Okaaaaaaaaaaay. Sounds like he just wants to talk to you some more.”

“B-But!” Mary clutched Raihan’s rare Trainer card with shaky hands. “What do I even say?”

“‘Hey, I think you’re really cool, can we be friends?’”

_“Jules!!”_

“I’m kidding! In all seriousness, if you guys had a normal conversation, do you really need to think so hard on what to say? If both parties are into it, then just go with the flow.” Juliet suggested with a shrug.

“What if he gets bored…?” Mary asked anxiously. 

“Hey, conversations can only go so far. If you run out of things to talk about then something else will surely pop up another day. It’s like you and me. Just because we don’t talk 24/7, doesn’t mean we’re bored of each other.”

“I guess so…” The Daycare worker looked down at his Trainer card again and gingerly pulled out her Rotom phone. Adding his phone number wasn’t even the hardest part, yet her hands were sweating in nervousness. 

“I don’t know Raihan all that well, but he seems like a chill and good person. Yeah, it’s intimidating as hell to be noticed by someone you look up to, but at the end of the day, he’s just a person. Take you time, OK? Or else I’ll ask Leon to give your number to Raihan instead-” Juliet wasn’t actually going to do that since she wanted Mary to take the initiative to do things on her own, but she only said it to give her that extra push she needed to add Raihan’s number. _Casual_ blackmail, is what she would call it.

“O-OK! I’m gonna do it-!” With a surge of confidence, Mary quickly typed in Raihan’s number and even shot him a simple text of ‘Hey Raihan! Thanks for giving me your number so we can talk more! ^-^”.

“Decidueye!!” Takumi stomped his feet impatiently, waiting for his trainer’s turn to pass. 

“Huh? Oh! Sorry, Takumi!” Juliet picked up her neglected bow and arrow, pulled back the drawstring and accidentally fired it too early at Mary’s sudden shriek, the arrow piercing on the rim of the target. She promptly ignored how Takumi scoffed at her clumsiness. “Wha?! What now?!”

“He replied!!”

“That’s great and all but I’m in the middle of something here!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like the softer side of Raihan isn't portrayed as much in fanart and fanfics as much as his aggressive side, even though according to magazine interviews for the Pokemon anime, he's often cited as being a gentle and good person! 
> 
> When I wrote this, it was a little gift for my friend, who Mary belongs to!
> 
> As always, thank you for reading this side chapter and another main chapter will be updated tomorrow! I hope you'll look forward to it since it's a fun chapter, that turns emotional by the end, but in a good way! 
> 
> Expect Leon hugs, oho :^)
> 
> Please leave a kudos and or a comment if you'd like!


	9. It's OK to Cry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite being so close, yet so far, to the discovering whatever was lurking in her dreams, she heads over to Hammerlocke to do some shopping on her day off when she bumps into Leon, who is on his way to a fashion photo shoot.

**Chapter 6: It’s OK to Cry**

****

* * *

_Standing on the beach by herself, she walks closer to the tides until she can feel the receding waves around her ankles. The unknown presence from before is nowhere to be found, but she can still feel it._

_Watching her._

_She looks out towards the horizon, wondering what was on the other side and how far away she was from the piece of her heart that was missing._

_What was she longing for?_

_Friendship? Love? Success?_

_She didn’t really know what she was looking for, but reaching her hand out towards the endless ocean, made her feel closer somehow towards finding it._

_Suddenly, she feels that presence come up from behind her._

_She turns her head to look at it-_

* * *

**_RING RING RING RING RING_ **

Juliet irritably wakes from the persistent ringing of her phone. She was so close to seeing what was lurking in her dreams and nightmares thus far. The recognition of what it could be felt so close yet so far. She fumbled around her bed for her phone, finally locating it and answering the call without even checking who it was.

“Hello…?”

_“Good morning, Juliet. Sorry to be calling you so early, but you did tell me to contact you as soon as I could once the results of your tests came in.”_

She immediately sat up right. “And?”

_“Nothing conclusive unfortunately. Your results came back all normal aside from you being iron deficient from your last check up. It looks better than before, but not quite at the normal range yet so keep taking those supplements.”_

Juliet let out a frustrated sigh. “Is there really nothing else?”

_“You could take a mental health evaluation if you feel as though the dreams and nightmares you’re experiencing are hindering you from your day to day life. If you have a lot going on in your life, talking to a professional regularly could help with recognizing and coming to terms with the things that are weighing you down.”_

“Oh, I completely forgot about asking you that at the check up! I’ve spoken to a therapist before when I was younger and I was wondering if you know anyone good that I can speak to?”

_“I know a few therapists, but I’ll have to check their availability. If you are in a dire need of assistance in terms of mental health, I can email you some helpful links along with hotlines that you can call if you need to speak to someone right away.”_

“I see. I expected as much. The situation is not too debilitating since talking to my therapist when I was younger helped me cope with my anxieties when I needed it the most. It’s just a bit inconvenient to be reminded of them more often as of late. Please send me those resources though! I’ll check them out when I can.”

“ _Alright. I’ll be sure to send them by the end of the day. And, one more thing, since the cause of your recent distress is coming from nightmares - there might be someone who might be able to help you.”_

“Really?! Who?”

_“Have you heard of a scientist named Fennel? She resides in the Unova region and specializes in researching dreams from both humans and Pokemon.”_

Fennel...No, she didn’t recognize the name but it was a lead she wasn’t going to pass up. 

“No, I haven’t heard of her but hearing that, I definitely want to talk to her. Can you refer me to her?”

_“Of course. I don’t know how busy she is so don’t expect an immediate response. If I don’t hear back in two weeks at most, I’ll let you know.”_

“Thank you very much, doctor. I really appreciate it.”

_“You’re welcome, Juliet. I’ll let you know immediately when I get a call back or have any updates for the therapists. And of course, if you need anything else, I’m only a call away. Take care!”_

“Thank you. You too.” After hanging up, Juliet held her phone close to her chest. Finally, some sort of progress. She really hoped this dream scientist would be able to help her. On top of the weight being lifted from confiding in her friends, she felt even more reassured knowing there were still options for her. At the very least, she was in a much better headspace now than she was when she was 11.

“Now, what to do on this day off…” After spending the morning getting ready and updating her friends on her results and plans moving forward, she walked out of her flat with renewed vigor and took a Corviknight taxi to Hammerlocke to look around and maybe scope out new additions to her wardrobe. Summers in Galar weren’t as brutal as they were in Hoenn, but it was worth taking a look around at what was considered Galar’s usual fashion sense. 

* * *

“Oh my god! Is that Leon?! He’s _so_ cute!”

“He’s dressed so casually today! Wait! What if he’s going on a date?!”

“Huuuuuuh?! I want to go on a date with the Champion!”

Ugh, Leon should have gotten a better disguise. He wasn’t in the mood to dress in layers to conceal his identity, but he was definitely not in the mood to deal with over enthusiastic fans on his way to a photoshoot. The flashing cameras and the phones that were being shoved in his face were prodding at his patience. It would look bad if he made a break for it, but he didn’t have time to take selfies and give autographs to the crowd of fans that gathered either. The longer he lingered, the more out of hand the situation would become. 

Thankfully, as if to answer his prayers, he caught the sight of a Corviknight taxi landing off to the side, about a block away from him, and watched Juliet exit out of the taxi. 

“Thank you for the ride, sir!”

“Anytime. Have a good one!”

Juliet waved at the retreating taxi that took off back into the skies, and was a bit taken aback by the hordes of people that were crowding around the stressed out Champion. Her bright blue eyes met his golden gaze, and based on how his eyes squinted, and his brows were furrowed, he was in a bit of a bind and was silently pleading for help. She swore he even mouthed ‘help me’. 

She snickered to herself before reaching into her messenger bag and pulling out her work lanyard that she wore during the Gym Challenge. She threw it around her neck and approached the crowd with her hand up. 

“Excuse me! There you are Champion Leon! You’re going to be late for your next meeting!” She announced loudly over the crowd. 

“I’m sorry everyone! I promise to make it up to you another day but I have to get back to work now!” Leon said profusely as he carefully pushed himself out of the crowd to where Juliet was waiting for him. She shot him a knowing wink and began walking off towards nowhere in particular, but just far enough to make sure they weren’t being followed and when the initial crowd of people had dispersed.. Leon let out a shaky sigh. 

“Thanks for that. You really saved me there.”

“Didn’t think I had to use my work privileges to put on a bit of an act.” Juliet chuckled.

“Well, you weren’t exactly wrong. I need to get to a fashion photoshoot but that crowd really jostled my composure.”

“A photoshoot, huh? No wonder you’re dressed like that. See, this is way better than that serial killer get-up you had that one time.”

“Still holding that against me, huh?” Leon joked. “Anyway, as much as I’d like to stay and chat, I better get going.”

“Let me escort you the rest of the way there. You might get stopped by more fans along the way.” 

“Thanks.” It was a first for him to be leading the way but he’d like to think his sense of direction wasn’t _that_ dismal. After all, one of the main reasons why his sense of direction was a bit poor was because of how tightly packed his schedule tended to be, leaving him little room to figure out how to get from place to place. It often left him feeling stressed because of how much he hated being late, but now that he was given a bit more control over his schedule, hopefully he could take his time and breathe easier. 

Now that he thought about it, it had been awhile since he had seen Juliet in person and he noticed she was a lot more...chipper, than when he saw her during the Opening Ceremonies. She also looked a bit different, deciding to have her hair up in a high ponytail and went with wearing her grey striped quarter sleeved shirt with her usual varsity jacket tied around her waist. 

“So, did you talk to the Chairman yet?” Juliet asked, meeting his gaze.

“I did. He’s letting me have more control of which events and projects I can take. Granted, the options are all picked by him, but being able to choose feels a lot more fulfilling.” Leon laughed heartily. “Next week, we’re going to the hospital for a charity event for the children there and the Chairman mentioned about a kid who really wants to see me.”

“Awww, that sounds great! I’m sure the children there are super excited to meet you. It must be hard on them to only be able to watch their idols and role models from a TV, but being able to meet them in person? I’m sure it will be an encounter they’ll never forget.” Juliet added cheerfully. 

Leon smiled gently at that. “Yeah...I hope so. Even if they’re sick, I want to show them that they can be strong too. And, that they can have a Champion time.”

“What a very Leon-thing to say.” She teased lightly. “I think being near you makes anyone feel strong.”

“How so?”

“It’s hard to explain, but it’s your aura. You give off a lot of fiery energy that makes me feel like I can kick some ass.”

“And who’s arse are you looking to kick?”

“No one’s in particular! In this case, I feel reassured that I can get through whatever it is that I’m going through.” She grinned widely at him. “So, I’m glad I got to run into you today!”

He sheepishly scratched the back of his neck. “I didn’t really do anything.”

“Whose deflecting gratitude now?” 

“Oh, please. You’re way worse.”

“I am, but I’m working on it.” She giggled. “What does my aura feel like? Or look like?” 

“Hmmm…” Soothing. Definitely soothing. And comforting. Juliet was one of his few friends that he could let his guard down for, because he didn’t have to put up a strong front. With her especially, she was always good at listening and being patient when he couldn’t find the words to express what he was feeling. If his aura gave off the feeling of strength, then she was the opposite - expressing compassion for another’s weakness. 

“Your aura is soothing, in my opinion. If my aura gives you the energy to take on the world, your aura makes me feel relaxed.”

“A soothing aura, huh...That sounds nice! Even though I have my own worries and stresses, there might be people who have it a lot worse. Life is already unfair as it is, so why let it bring us down even more? Everyone deserves to relax and take a load off.”

“Heh, now that’s a very Juliet-thing to say.”

She playfully threw a double peace sign at him with her tongue sticking out, making him laugh heartily at her cheeky behaviour. 

They finally arrived at the sight of the photoshoot, located outside of various clothing stores and boutiques with studio lights and other various photography equipment scattered along the streets. Everything looked to be set up, but a man, assuming to be the director of operations, was practically fuming into the phone. Rough, for whoever was on the other side. 

“Come on, we had a deal! We already secured the area of the shoot and everything! Why didn’t you tell us sooner?! Sorry?! It’s kind of late for apologies! Hello? Hello!” The director cursed into the receiver before hanging up. 

“Yikes...I wonder what happened?” Juliet grimaced. 

“Ahh, Leon. There you are.” A frustrated looking woman called out as she approached them. 

“What happened?” Leon asked.

“Well…” The woman sighed. “The female model that was supposed to be modelling with you took an impromptu vacation to Kalos. Apparently she forgot about the shoot.”

“Kind of ironic considering Kalos is well-known for having high-end fashion brands and the like and she still forgot about a fashion photoshoot.” Juliet mumbled. Leon stifled a chuckle with a cough. 

“Haaa...No luck, unfortunately. We’ll have to cancel the shoot. All that trouble to secure this location too.” The director lamented.

“Have you tried contacting any other female models? I can give Nessa a call-” Leon suggested. 

“I’ve already tried, but she’s currently booked for the day.” The director groaned. “We’ll have to delay the release of the magazine at this rate too-” He suddenly stopped, mid-tangent, when he noticed Juliet and stared at her intently. Juliet blinked, turning her head in all directions just to be sure he was looking at her in particular. 

“Umm...Can I help...you?” She slurred out anxiously. Then, the director came up right in her face, making her recoil a few steps back to keep her distance. He started to circle around her with his fist tucked underneath his chin, as if he were examining her like one would for a fine arts sculpture. Juliet looked at Leon and mouthed, ‘What the heck is he doing?’, to which he shrugged in response. 

“Yes, yes, yes! This could work! You could work!” The director exclaimed. He grabbed both of her hands and shook them a little too enthusiastically. “And what might your name be, young lady?”

“J-Juliet…” 

“A lovely name for a lovely lady!”

_Where was this even going?!_

“Miss Juliet, how would you like to be a model for the day?”

...What?

Her?! Be a _model?!_

“I’m not a model though?!” Juliet squeaked out, her face erupting like a volcano from the sudden proposal. Modelling, or in her eyes, looking good in front of a camera, was _totally_ out of her comfort zone. It required confidence in one’s inner beauty to bring out the charm and flair of the clothes being shown off - all of which she had 0 experience and confidence in. She was someone who prioritized comfort over aesthetics. 

“You may not be a model, but that doesn’t mean you can’t model at all! Oh! Where are my manners?! You may call me Benjamin. Or Ben for short!”

A staff member rushed up to the director and whispered something urgent in his ear while making random gestures at Juliet. Benjamin’s eyes lit up like a light bulb and they twinkled with inspiration. “I thought I recognized you from somewhere! You’re the leader of Raid Prism and you’re even working for the Gym Challenge.” His hands reached out to form a frame with his fingers, as if painting a picture to the sky. “A fashion magazine featuring the Unbeatable Champion and the leader of a popular Raid Team - we’ll reach new viewers with this issue for sure!”

“Um?! Don’t I get a say in all of this?! Don’t you have to get permission from Chairman Rose fir-” Juliet stammered. 

“That will be no trouble at all! This is a great opportunity for your own fans to see a side of you they’ve never seen before!”

...She didn’t know if she liked the sound of that. Besides, what would people take away from her playing dress up? ‘Oh look, Juliet can look good in nice clothes’? It didn’t exactly align with her core values or what she wanted to show to people.

“But, it doesn’t seem fair to leave out my teammates. They’re just as important as me and I don’t want people to think I’m self-centered.” She retorted. It felt wrong to exclude her friends, even if she was their leader. 

“Don’t worry! There will be an interview section where we’ll ask questions about your respective roles in the Gym Challenge and the like and it’s the perfect opportunity to talk about your teammates and speak on their behalf.” Benjamin bowed his head deeply and clapped both of his hands together, begging her to accept the modelling gig. 

Arceus...she hated being put on the spot because that meant there was a greater pressure to accept than deny. She looked at the various staff members, who looked at her with hopeful eyes.

No photoshoot meant no magazine. 

No magazine meant no profit. 

No profit meant no one would be paid for doing their job.

This was her way of reasoning with herself to accept the gig - for the sake of making sure those involved would be able to put food on the table. She bit the bullet and sighed heavily in defeat. 

“Alright. I’ll do it. But, please go easy on me! I’ve never done anything like this before.” She agreed quietly. The director cheered and shook her hands eagerly, repeating ‘thank you’ over and over before going over to each staff member to confirm the completed set-up. Leon walked over to her with something akin to an apologetic smile on his face. 

“Sorry about him. He’s demanding but he means well.”

“It’s OK. I was actually going to look around town to do some window shopping, but to think I’d be an active participant in representing the clothes…” Juliet grumbled. 

“Well, you can count on me if you need some pointers. It’s a pleasure to be working with you, Juliet.” Leon encouraged, holding his hand out as a formality. She let out one more sign, finally accepting the position she was in and shook his hand. 

“Likewise, Champ.”

* * *

“I’m surprised you accepted the job.” The make-up artist, Caroline, giggled as she gently applied some foundation to Juliet’s cheeks. She wondered how ridiculous she must have looked, like a fish out of water while her face was being applied with light layers of make-up as strongly requested by her. Juliet didn’t grow up getting into make-up, preferring to embrace her natural looks to save the money and time. 

“Your director is very persistent.”

“He is, but only because he cares.” Caroline then smirked. “Or, is it because you couldn’t pass up the chance to model with Champion Leon? Plenty of fans would die to be in your position.”

“That’s a bit overdramatic.”

“It’s true. We’ve been working with Leon for years, and people’s love for him only grows. Lots of gossip magazines and the like talk about how he’s the #1 bachelor in all of Galar.”

“That’s…” _Really gross,_ Juliet thought with a grimace. The idea of trying to win over his attention like he was some trophy, sent an unpleasant chill into the pit of her stomach. It was almost nauseating how manipulative people were for the sake of sensational headlines and clicks. It was like basic decency and common courtesy weren’t in any of their dictionaries.

She wondered how Leon was able to deal with it, or if he just pretended it didn't exist all together for the sake of his own sanity. 

“From that scowl, it looks like you don’t fancy that.”

“No. I think it’s unhealthy to view any celebrity or someone who’s well-known, as if they’re an icon of some wish fulfillment fantasy. Celebrities are just regular people who made it. They have feelings; they’re capable of being bothered by stuff too.”

“...I agree as well. It’s a risky position to be in, for sure. Journalists and writers will eat anything up, even if it means twisting stories just to earn their paycheck. That’s the sad part. Perhaps these journalists are good people but when they’re pushed against the wall by their superiors, they don’t have much of a choice.” Caroline moved onto the finishing touches of her make-up by applying a natural layer of lip gloss to her lips. “Leon is lucky to have a friend like you. Someone who regards him honestly and genuinely.”

Of course. He deserves that kind of treatment from anyone. 

“All done! I tried to keep it as natural as possible but seeing as you don’t wear make-up, you might not think it is.” Caroline held up a hand mirror for her to hold. Looking at herself in the mirror, she was...embarrassed by how much more mature she looked. It made it hard to appreciate the artistry itself. Her eyelashes looked more full and longer, the eyeliner brought out the deep blue colour of her eyes and made the shape of her eyes look sharper, and the light salmon of the lip gloss on her lips was a nice accent to her natural looks. 

“Don’t touch your face! You’ll wipe off the foundation.”

“S-Sorry, it just feels...foreign.” Juliet apologized sheepishly. 

“Geez, you should embrace your womanly charms a bit more! You’re very beautiful, you know.”

Where was the nearest hole she could _jump_ into so she can flee from this situation?

“Is our female model ready?” Benjamin asked.

“I think so!” Caroline winked and nudged Juliet off of the stool she was sitting on. Her first instinct was to keep her head down when the director approached her, so she kept her head levelled but her gaze averted elsewhere. She didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to handle compliments about her make-over for the photoshoot. 

“Perfect! Absolutely perfect! You look stunning, Miss Juliet!” The director awed. “Alright! Places everyone! You’re up first, Champ!”

“Yes, si-” Leon stopped in his tracks, his jaw dropping as he eyed up Juliet’s look with surprise. If she wasn’t feeling anymore self-conscious, she would have probably laughed at his gobsmacked reaction. Instead she could only muster a shy wave in his direction with a nervous smile on her face. 

“Meowth got your tongue, Champ?” The director teased. Leon looked away bashfully and cleared his throat before regaining his composure. Juliet couldn’t help but snicker into her hand from noticing how his ears were still red. To think even _she_ could catch his attention like that. 

“Let’s get started! Miss Juliet, be sure to observe carefully to get an idea of what we’ll be expecting of you when you’re up.”

“I’ll do my best!” Juliet saluted. She stood at a safe distance as Benjamin and photographers barked order after order, which Leon fulfilled seamlessly and professionally. It was like a flip had been switched when it came to his work, carrying each task down to a T. It reminded her of movie actors and actresses on screen vs. behind the scenes, showing the transformation between their true selves with the persona they have to adopt for the roles given to them. 

A work persona…

She hadn’t realized how intently she was staring at Leon in order to get an idea of what his work persona entailed, that she didn’t notice him in between shots, staring back at her. Once she noticed, his gaze was transfixed on her but it was cleverly disguised as if it was for the shoot. 

“Leon, if you could give a bit of a coy smile and a wink now-” The photographer requested. 

And he did just that. For the camera, but for **_her_ ** as well. 

It felt like her heart leaped into her throat and the back of her neck was starting to sweat suddenly. She feigned a cough and tore her eyes away from him. 

He was just showing off the charisma of his on-set persona. It didn’t mean anything.

_...Right?_

“Great work, Leon! It’s your turn, Miss Juliet!”

 _Oh boy._ The sly wink that Leon shot at her as she walked past him, didn’t help her nerves at all. 

He was definitely messing with her. 

“C-Coming!” Juliet stumbled onto the set, feeling the creeping anxiety of stage fright with all the hot studio lights shining on her on top of the photographers aiming their cameras at her. The summer clothes she had to wear for the shoot were now feeling too hot on her. 

“Relax, Miss Juliet. You’re in good hands. We’ll be telling you what to do but above all else, be natural. If a pose doesn’t feel right, let us know and we will adjust.” The director assured her. She let out a sigh of relief and did what she normally did to shake off nervous energy - stretch to loosen her limbs and to clear her head. 

“OK. I think I’m good!”

“Excellent! Let’s do some warm-up shots first to get you comfortable-”

Modelling wasn’t as...difficult as she thought it was going to be. She didn’t feel particularly strong about her looks, but being praised for nailing a pose and gesture, it felt...nice. There was something liberating about stepping out of your comfort zone and doing things that you wouldn’t normally do. It gave her a fresh new perspective on how she saw herself, to the point that she started feeling a burst of confidence in an area that she didn’t care too much about until now. 

Maybe she SHOULD embrace her charms a little more…

“Very good, Miss Juliet! Has anyone told you that you have a wonderful smile?” Benjamin asked casually between shots. 

“P-Probably when I was younger but not so much now.” 

“I can feel your kindness and compassion in your smiles and I’m sure the readers will think so too.”

Oh Arceus, she didn’t really think that far ahead to what people would _think_. 

“OK! Let’s take 20 and then move on to shots with both models.”

* * *

“So, these three are your new additions to your team!” Leon exclaimed, looking between the aforementioned Pokemon with genuine curiosity. Hilda, her Sylveon approached him excitedly and held up one of her feelers for him to take. He chuckled and gingerly shook it before giving her some scratches behind her ears. She yipped happily and leaned in further into his affectionate scratching. 

“She loves being pampered. I try not to spoil her though since she can be a bit stubborn.” Juliet replied, shooting her Sylveon a coy smile based on her little pout. 

“Quite the opposite from the other two.” Leon chuckled, noting how far apart her Chandelure, Hubert, and Decidueye, Takumi, were standing from one another. Takumi looked at Leon with a cold, calculative glare, that even made the Champion a bit intimidated by his presence. Hubert had a similar vibe except his stare was more...mysterious and neutral, keeping any sort of initial impressions to himself. 

“Takumi is fiercely competitive to the point where he overworks himself. A little reassurance and praise is helping with that, I think.” Juliet giggled, making Takumi look away from the teasing. 

“Hubert on the other hand, well, he’s a hard nut to crack. The funny thing is, I can’t really recall our meeting all that well. He’s very...watchful but is really capable. He’s a bit cold to other trainers that aren’t me.” As if to prove that, Hubert hovered over to Juliet, letting out a ghostly murmur, which was a sign that he wanted to be pet by her. She gently ran her hands across his round body, giggling at how his neon yellow eyes closed from the careful caressing. 

“And, I see that Odin evolved too!” Leon noted amusingly, as Odin snuggled up against his side, recognizing the Champion after all these years. He couldn’t exactly ride on his shoulder like he used to when he was a Pikachu, but that didn’t stop Odin from finding other ways to show affection. 

“He fell in love with the pancakes in Alola and he really wanted to evolve at that point so when I used a Thunder Stone on him, he turned into the Alolan form of Raichu! Looks like he missed you too.”

“Heh, I missed you too, Odin. Thanks for helping me all those times.”

“Raichu!”

“Are you making any changes to your current team this year?” Juliet asked.

“I have a new addition to my team,” Leon tossed out a Pokeball, revealing a Rillaboom. Juliet whistled, impressed by the fully evolved Galar grass-type starter. 

“Rillaboom, huh? Did you get a Grookey from Professor Magnolia or something?”

“I surprised Hop and Gloria with their starter Pokemon that I got from a breeder and I didn’t want the little one to feel left out so I took him under my wing!”

“Awww. Looks like it paid off!” She held up a fist to the Drummer Pokemon. Rillaboom gave her a big grin and bumped his larger fist against her own. “Nice to meet you, Rillaboom! I can’t wait to see you in action for the finals.”

“Who says we have to wait until finals? We promised we’d battle each other again one day.” Leon reminded her.

“...We did?”

“You don’t remember?”

“Hrm...You did say something about how I almost beat you in a battle.”

“Yeah, and I’m eager to see if you’ve gotten any stronger.” 

“Are you sure you want to give up your title of ‘Unbeatable’ that easily?” Juliet challenged lightly. She obviously didn’t mean it considering she hadn’t seriously battled competitively in years. She did like to participate in tournaments at the Battle Frontier every so often, and she had participated in a few rounds at the Battle Tree in Alola, but she always did it for the thrill of the challenges themselves over any kind of reward or victory. She swore she saw something flash in Leon’s eyes from her challenge, making him look at her with something fierce. 

“You’re that sure you can beat _me?_ ”

“You know what they say,” She shot him a cheeky wink. “Go hard or go home.” 

“Heh, you’re on. I’ll show you a Champion time.”

Juliet snorted and rolled her eyes. “OK, Champ. We better head back to the shoot since our break is almost over.” Returning her Pokemon into their respective Pokeballs, she stood up and-

**_BA-BUMP_ **

Her vision suddenly blurred and she momentarily lost control of her limbs, resulting in her wobbling unsteadily and instinctively reaching out to balance against something. She felt Leon’s arms tucking under her shoulders and arms to keep her upright and to recover by leaning against his weight. 

What...What the hell was _that?_ It felt like...her heart had stopped and she had blacked out for a brief moment before coming to. But, for that brief moment, she thought she saw something flash in her vision. 

A dark face. With _haunting_ teal eyes. 

“Whoa! Are you OK?” Leon asked worryingly.

“Y-Yeah...I just...I think I blacked out for a second there…” 

“Maybe you should rest a bit longer.”

Juliet shook off the dizziness by shaking her head and slapping both of her cheeks. She wished she could dunk her head in cold water but that could wait. “I’m OK now. That was really weird though.” 

Leon comfortingly squeezed her shoulders. “If you say so. But, just in case, after the shoot is over, I’m going to take you home.”

She smiled at that. “Thanks. In that case, at least stay for dinner or something.”

“Haha, alright. I can’t really say no to free food.”

* * *

The rest of the photoshoot went without any hitches. A few of their shots involved them walking down the shopping district as if they were window shopping, while other shots featured them sitting outside of a cafe enjoying cold drinks and various desserts like crepes and ice cream. Despite the cameras and studio lights that were around them, it felt like an ordinary summer day of hanging out with each other. 

“You don’t have to finish the crepes or ice cream.” Leon snickered into his hand as Juliet devoured the rest of her brownies and bananas crepes without a care in the world. As an avid baker and lover of sweets, it was hard to turn down a good crepe or soft serve of ice cream. Not to mention she wasn’t a fan of letting food go to waste. 

“I don’t have to but I will!”

Leon leaned against the palm of his hand and sheepishly pointed at his own mouth. “You have whipped cream on your mouth.”

“Oh! Good call. Can you pass me a napkin?”

“Stop!” The head photographer shouted. Leon froze in mid-reach of handing Juliet a napkin and they both looked at the photographer confusingly. The photographer tapped her chin thoughtfully before an idea came into her mind, resulting in a sly smile forming on her lips. 

“Leon, can you wipe the cream off her face with your thumb?”

“...Huh?”

“...Eh?” Juliet blinked, until the realization hit her. Her cheeks flared up a bright red and she waved her hands frantically. “W-Wait, is that OK?!”

“Leon’s done some similar shots before with other models but all parties are professional about it.” The photographer held up her camera and played around with her lens. “Of course, if you’re not comfortable with it, we don’t have to go through with it. It’s the end of the shoot anyway and we’ve gotten more than enough photos to work with. It just seemed like a cute idea especially since intimate shots between models tend to be popular amongst our viewers.”

“Huh…I guess, one more shot...couldn’t hurt…” She muttered.

“Great! In that case, mind moving your seat a bit closer to Leon so he doesn’t have to reach out too far?”

“R-Right.” Juliet warily picked up her chair and moved it closer to Leon so she was sitting more comfortably next to him. 

“Alright now, pretend you’re in the middle of eating and Leon turns your head to wipe the cream from your face.”

Her ears were probably burning from just listening to the instructions alone. She mentally braced herself as she took another bite of her crepe when Leon’s hand gingerly grabbed her chin to turn her head towards him. His gaze was soft but the smile he had on was almost _flirty_. She probably looked like an Espurr with how stunned she was by the whole situation. That feeling from earlier, where her heart was stuck in her throat, came back full force. 

She didn’t want to admit that his charms were starting to have an effect on her. 

It felt like forever until the sound of the shuttering camera came to an end and Leon’s hand finally dropped from her chin.

“And, that’s a wrap! Great work, you two!”

“Haaaaa…” Juliet exhaled shakily before fanning herself. 

When did it get so _hot_ all of a sudden? 

“So, what did you think about your first modelling gig?” Leon asked, laughing casually at how spent she looked. 

“Yeaaaaaah, I don’t think I’d be able to do this full-time. I don’t have temperament for it. But, it was still fun!” Minus that last part, she thought to herself. 

“I had fun too. More than usual.” His smile then turned smug. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so flustered before today.”

“Haha, very funny. It just means you know how to charm people for work.”

“So, you admit that I’m charming?” 

Juliet kicked him in the shin from under the table. He yelped before laughing off the pain and pushing himself out of his seat. She did the same when Benjamin came over to her and graciously shook both of her hands.

“Thank you so much again for being our back-up model! I’ll be sure to send you the outline for the short interview as soon as possible.”

“You’re welcome! I hope you got the shots you wanted.”

“You were a pleasure to work with! Some models can be a bit...stubborn so you’ve made our jobs a lot easier. And you look beautiful in each shot to boot.” The director sent her an easy-going wink before walking off to check up on the rest of his crew for take down. 

Juliet released a well-deserved sigh and ran a hand through her wavy black hair, before realizing she was still dressed in the outfit given to her for the shoot, which was a black halter top, ripped blue shorts, and black strappy sandals. Going over to the change rooms, the designer in charge of supplying their outfits kindly told her that she could keep the outfit as thanks for her work. 

Free clothes? She wasn’t going to complain. Her wardrobe needed a make-over anyway. 

* * *

“Make yourself at home.” Juliet offered to Leon, as she wandered off to her room to put her new clothes away and to change into something a bit more comfortable. In the meantime, Leon looked around at her well-furnished flat that had a spacious living area with couched, flat screen TV, and a bookshelf stocked to the brim with video games and paraphernalia. It was an impressive collection and it reminded him a lot of his mentor’s collection over in the Isle of Armor. He used to play video games with his brother and Mustard whenever he got the chance but he couldn’t recall the last time he held a controller. 

He peeked into one of her other rooms, which was converted into an office of sorts. He assumed office because of the multiple monitors sitting on top of a sleek black desk, but there were all sorts of other electronics such as speakers, headphones, and other things that seemed to suggest that Juliet did more than just work. 

“Snooping through my nerd cave?” She joked from behind him. 

“I had no idea you were so tech-savvy.”

“That’s one way of looking at it. I just like being efficient with my work and hobbies and I sort of adopted it from my uncle.” Juliet chuckled. “Anyway, do you mind entertaining Pistachio for a bit while I make dinner?”

“Pistachio?” Leon questioned. To answer his curiosity, her shiny Trapinch nudged his shin and looked up at him strangely, not recognizing the guest his owner invited into their home. 

“He’s my pet! Mary bred him for me as a present. He’s very friendly and affectionate. Pistachio, this is Leon. He’s a good guy so don’t be shy, OK?”

Pistachio looked up at Leon again. The Champion crouched down to his level and cautiously stroked the top of his head and gave the baby Pokemon a warm smile. The Pokemon eagerly nuzzled back into his hand, pushing himself onto his hind legs in hopes that he could pick him up. Leon did just that, folding his arms over his belly and taking a seat on her living room couch. The Trapinch squirmed out of his arms to curl up comfortably on his lap. 

“Are you sure you don’t need any help? You almost had a fainting spell earlier-” 

“I’m OK. Curry is easy to make and doesn’t take that long. Feel free to kick back and use the TV in the meantime!” Juliet reassured before throwing on an apron and heading into her kitchen to cook. 

About 20 minutes later, she returned from the kitchen with three plates of sausage curry for herself, Leon, and Pistachio as well. She wrestled a napkin around her Pokemon’s neck, before setting his plate on the ground in front of them. 

Juliet reached out for the TV remote to mindlessly watch whatever was on through dinner, but Leon had stopped her hand by gently grabbing her wrist. She looked at him quizzically. 

“Since we have some time now, I was wondering if it was OK to talk about...back then.” He asked, his voice turning serious.

She closed her eyes. It was only a matter of time. But, it was easier knowing her friends finally knew about it too. 

“Well, your case is pretty self-explanatory.” She mentioned.

“You have a point there. I just didn’t…I just didn’t want you to have the same first impressions or expectations as everyone else has when I tell them I’m a Champion.” He chewed through the curry with a far-off look in his eyes. “I wanted to have a blank slate. To be treated equally like everyone else.”

Juliet listened intently, feeling each word resonate with her own experience. She slowly got up from the couch, while Leon watched her sift through her shelf of games to pull out a single photograph. 

What was the photo that made her hide it in the first place?

She placed the photo, face down, on the coffee table in front of him. He touched the photo before looking up at her, making sure he was allowed to look at what she had been hiding. Juliet smiled gently and nodded. “Though the outcome was different for me, I was in the same place as you at one point.”

His eyebrows quirked at that, making him finally turn over the photo.

It was a photograph of her in her youth - holding a Hoenn League trophy with Tiki, Hajime, and Odin posing with her in front of the Hall of Fame. 

Leon’s jaw dropped, his fingers reaching out to trace along the shape of the trophy in the photo and looking closely to read the words ‘Hoenn League Championships - Champion Juliet’ that were etched into the trophy. 

“You...You were a Champion…?”

“...Yup. When I was 11. I didn’t hold the title for very long either. I’ll save you the emotional crap and details but, there were trainers who were bitter towards me, the media wouldn’t stop talking about me, and it eventually got to me. I lost my title as Champion, ran away from my parents who basically told me I was nothing, and my aunt and uncle took custody of me instead.” Juliet stared at the photo in his hands, her eyes swimming with mixed emotions. “Even though it had been a few years since then, by the time you came along, the wounds still felt fresh, even telling people my name reminded me of when ‘Champion’ was said with it. That's probably why I told you to call me J.”

“Probably...?”

“My...memories are still hazy from that time, but my feelings about it are still clear. It...hurt to hear my name when it used to be said in praise,” Her gaze fell to her plate of curry. “...Or in disdain.”

“Juliet…” There...There were a lot of things to process, but the first thing Leon acknowledged, was the feeling of guilt. He wouldn’t call himself lucky, but he was so fortunate to have such positive support from those who accepted him as their Champion. He had never heard of a Champion who wasn’t looked up to by people. 

Or maybe all this time, he just _assumed_ that’s how it was for every Champion. He had his fair share of encounters with jealous trainers who so badly wanted what he had, but it had never gotten to the point where he was stomped into the ground by their bitterness. It made him wonder - what in the world did trainers say to her to break her spirit like that? How far did they take it and why couldn’t they realize that they were going too far? 

And...why did no one help her? Why did no one encourage her to keep fighting against the things that were said; to prove them wrong? Thinking about it made his fists clench in animosity. 

Shunned by her parents...He briefly recalled her saying that she didn’t have a good relationship with them anymore, but to that extent? He couldn’t believe there were people, who shared the same blood, could be so cruel towards someone who didn’t even do anything wrong. What kind of messed up standards did they have to not see that she was trying her best for _them_ and how she was torn up with guilt for not making them happy?

_What could he possibly say?_

“You don’t have to say anything, Leon. What happened, happened. I’d like to think I’ve moved on from it but...some wounds just won’t stop hurting.” Juliet regarded with a deep frown.

Leon boldly reached out to take her hand in his. She was slightly taken aback from the gesture, flustering at how her smaller hand was being held delicately in his grasp. Her head rose so her cerulean gaze leveled with his warm, golden one. 

“I...I honestly don’t know what to say but, it doesn’t feel right to not say anything at all either. I never knew the life of a Champion in someone else’s eyes could be so...painful. I wish I could have known you sooner so I could...cheer you on even harder, because you didn’t deserve any amount of grief people were giving you.” He squeezed her hand. “I know I can’t change the past, but if I couldn’t cheer you on back then, then I’m going to cheer you on twice as hard, no, THRICE as hard now.”

“Leon…”

“Despite everything you’ve been through, the fact that you can still march on and keep living, you’re so much stronger than you realize. Maybe even stronger than me.” He smiled tenderly. “But now more than ever, I want to be there for you. If you need to let it out, I hope you’ll trust my shoulder to cry on.”

Before she even noticed, heavy streams of tears rolled down her cheeks, making her throat tighten up uncomfortably. How long had she felt so alone, deep down? How long has she kept putting on a brave face so no one would ever have to know the past she was so ashamed of? She was honestly terrified that Leon would think she was pathetic or a coward for not being able to toughen up and take it. That’s what her parents made her believe from how they treated her. It was already hard having so many ties being broken because of it - what if it happened again? The culmination of all of these anxieties broke out of her, like a broken dam, but the warm embrace by Leon was there to take the brunt of it all. 

“All this time, I thought I was…!” Juliet hiccuped through her tears. The Champion shushed her gently, stroking her soft black hair as she cried almost a decade worth of tears. But even after the ache in her throat eased up from sobbing and her eyes were no longer overflowing, he didn’t let go. All that remained was a feeling of calm and comfort. Like being wrapped up in a soft, warm blanket. He was so warm, and feeling his heartbeat against her chest felt so soothing. She wished she could sink deeper into his arms and just forget about the world for a moment.

She sniffled. “...I don’t think I’ve cried this much before outside of crying at an ending of a show..."

Juliet could feel the rumble of the soft laugh that Leon let out at her remark. 

He was so _close._

“That’s one way to recover from crying.”

She lifted her head just enough to notice the large tear stain on his shirt where she had been crying. She grimaced. “Sorry about your shirt.”

“Water under the bridge. Nothing that laundry can’t fix.” Leon slowly pulled away, but still kept his hands on her shoulders. Her eyes were soaked and puffed up, and the make-up she had yet to remove had smeared across her nose and cheeks. 

Needless to say, she looked awful, but she felt...OK. For the most part. 

“I probably look like a Picasso painting right now.” Juliet muttered bluntly. Leon stifled a snort but ended up chucking anyway. 

“In all seriousness, do you feel better?”

“...I think so. Sleeping on it might make me feel even better.” Hopefully, if this finally meant she would get a normal good night’s rest. 

But, that face that flashed in her vision from earlier...

What WAS that? Or rather, WHO, was that?

Well, she had more important things to worry about at the moment. Like her tear and snot soaked face and the neglected curry that was probably cold by now. 

“I better wash my face. Our curry might have gotten a bit cold so feel free to use the microwave to heat it up.”

“Alright. Take your time and...no matter what happens, I’ll always believe in you.” Leon reminded her sincerely. She answered him with a grateful smile before going off to wash her face and have a moment with her thoughts. 

Once she finished, they spent the rest of the evening finishing their curry while letting the TV run with the program she and her team were on to promote the Gym Challenge. There was laughter from both of them, mainly from Leon as he watched her team try to herd Wooloo in their own ways, while Juliet cringed behind a cushion at some of the embarrassing edits and commentary that were added on screen by the director.

As Leon got ready to leave, he stopped in the middle of the hallway leading to her flat and turned around to face her. “Hey, can I ask you something?”

Juliet leaned against the door frame of her front door with her arms crossed. “What’s up?”

The Champion shoved both hands in his pockets. “Is it...alright if I still call you J?”

Her eyebrows quirked at that. “Oh? What brought this on?”

“Nothing really, I just...want to. Can I?”

_How nostalgic._

“Sure. Have a good night, Lee.”

“Thanks. You too, J.”

* * *

**Juliet's Champion Photo**

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a fanservicey chapter but I had a lot of fun writing it! From all the different posters of Leon that were in John's room in Twilight Wings, I thought it would be fun to explore how Leon acts during his shoots for promotional ads and posters since he's genuinely more silly and easy-going off camera, versus on camera when he's posed so confidently and seriously. 
> 
> I'm not going to lie though - a part of me wonders if Juliet confiding in Leon about their past came about a bit too early because of how long this fanfic is and I didn't want to make it seem rushed. At the same time, I didn't want to drag it out any longer because I feel like when you drag on a secret for too long, it can feel a bit frustrating like "UGH JUST TALK IT OUT ALREADY" especially since Juliet as a character, doesn't really shy away from telling the truth if she's confronted. A defining character trait of Juliet is that she'll be honest about how she's feeling and what she's been through, but she never truly gives the full story. 
> 
> Besides, there's still so much to get through in terms of story and their relationship, and we haven't even gotten to the meat of the story yet!
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading this chapter! Please consider leaving a kudos and or comment and feel free to follow me on Twitter @PigeonSenpai or on Tumblr @carefreejules!


	10. Stepping Out of the Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juliet finally deduces the being lurking in her nightmares, but he isn't so keen on revealing himself to her.

**Chapter 7 - Stepping Out of the Shadows**

* * *

**_“Champion Juliet…”_ **

**_“Champion Juliet…”_ **

**_“Champion Juliet…”_ **

**_“Wake up…”_ **

_ Who was calling her that and why? It had been over 10 years so that title meant nothing to her anymore.  _

**_“You say that title holds no meaning, yet you cling to it unknowingly.”_ **

_ Juliet opens her eyes, but is only met with an endless sea of black all around her. She blinked, to make sure that her eyes were in fact open, but it did nothing to change the dark void surrounding her.  _

_ “Who are you? And, why can you read my thoughts?” _

**_“Who I am is not of importance right now. I only wish to know more about you.”_ **

_ O...kaaaaaaaaaaaay. That wasn’t invasive at all. At least she knew now that there was in fact, something, lurking in her dreams and nightmares. It reminded her of something she read in a book during her travels. _

_ What was it again? _

**_“I believe you’re thinking about the book of myths and legends you read in a library in the Sinnoh region.”_ **

_ Thanks, mysterious entity of my unconscious thoughts. Can you stop reading my mind now? _

**_“If you wish for me to stop, then perhaps stop channeling your messages as such.”_ **

_ “Or, you can talk when you’re properly spoken to instead of snooping without permission.” _

**_“As you wish, though I make no promises.”_ **

_ “Right...So, how long have you been, uhhh, hanging around in my dreams and why wait until now to talk to me?”  _

**_“I do not know. The flow of time in dreams is something I cannot track. As for why I made an effort now to communicate with you, it’s because you’ve gone through a bit of a...change that has me curious.”_ **

_ “Can you be more specific?” _

**_“How do you feel when you experience a nightmare?”_ **

_ Juliet raised an eyebrow. The turn in conversation was starting to confirm her suspicions on who it was that was speaking to her but due to her lack of knowledge pertaining to the creature, the last thing she wanted to do was anger it. _

_ So the safest route was to play along, for now. If it wanted to hurt her, it would have done so already, for however long it resided in her.  _

_ “Usually my nightmares make me upset and distraught.” _

**_“Exactly, and yet you’ve started to regard them with...interest. As if you’re seeking out some sort of truth.”_ **

_ “I mean, yeah. Aren’t nightmares just a result of some deep-rooted anxiety? Wouldn’t coming to terms with them eventually make them go away?” _

**_“You tell me. Have your nightmares disappeared?”_ **

_ She narrowed her eyes. “Not completely. And I think I know why.” _

**_“...And that is?”_ **

_ “You’re the one causing them - aren’t you, Darkrai?” _

**_“...Hm. Clever girl.”_ **

_ “Don’t ‘clever girl’ me. You’re the Mythical Pokemon of Nightmares. What do you want from me?” _

**_“As I’ve said before, I’m only here to observe. My nightmares haven’t harmed you, no?”_ **

_ “No, but you’re treating me like an experiment for something as vague as ‘curiosity’.” _

**_“See it however you wish. It is time for you to return to the real world. We will talk again soon, Champion Juliet.”_ **

_ “Stop calling me that-” _

* * *

**_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP_ **

Juliet nearly chucked her Rotom phone across the room in frustration upon waking. She murmured an apology to her phone, which made some static noises in acknowledgement. 

Darkrai...How the  _ hell _ did it come to find her? And for a reason like that? There was no way there wasn’t a deeper reason as to why the Pokemon was ‘haunting’ her. Surely there were other nightmares that were far more interesting to the epitome of nightmares, than hers. 

It was a foolish thing to try, but there was nothing to lose. “Darkrai?”

Nothing.

She clenched her eyes tightly and repeated ‘Darkrai’ over and over in her thoughts. 

Nothing. 

“Hello darkness, my old friend.” Juliet grumbled to herself. 

This was going to be one hell of a conversation starter to her friends.

* * *

“The Mythical Pokemon Darkrai...is the one...haunting you?” Vanquil repeated slowly, trying to process and make sense of...the outlandish statement. 

“See?! Doesn’t it sound completely bonkers?” Juliet exclaimed. “And this thing was being sassy to boot. Like some sort of posh Galarian aristocrat.”

“I think you mean posh Sinnohan aristocrat. Darkrai is a Mythical Pokemon in Sinnoh mythology, right?” Tessu corrected jokingly. 

“According to legends, it said to unleash nightmares as a way to defend itself when people or Pokemon intrude in its territory, but it doesn’t mean any harm. Apparently it’s mostly active during a new moon.” Mary read out loud from her Rotom phone. Juliet slumped over the table, nearly knocking over a pot of tea and cup of sugar cubes. It was driving her crazy not knowing why it was monitoring her and why it was being so secretive about it. 

“But  _ why me? _ When and where did I accidentally intrude in its territory? And wouldn’t it have left me alone by now?”

“Well, because of how illusive it is, there aren’t many reliable cases that definitively link the nightmares to Darkrai. So, there’s still so much that researchers don’t even know.” Mary added. 

“That reminds me; weren’t you waiting for a call from a dream researcher from Unova?” Tessu remembered.

“Yeah, about that. According to my doctor, she’s on a business trip in Alola and won’t be able to get back to me until next month.” Juliet huffed into the table. “So much waiting!”

“It can’t be helped. We feel for you but, as long as you’re OK and Darkrai isn’t causing any real harm, it should be fine, right?” Vanquil reassured. 

“Hmm...Do you think anyone has connections to Cynthia? Isn’t she an expert with this kind of thing?” Tessu wondered.

“The Champion of Sinnoh? Isn’t she always travelling, though? I don’t think she’ll be as easy to get a hold of.”

“Hmmmm...I have an idea. Why don’t we try talking to Allister?”

“Ohhh! Good idea, Mary! Is Darkrai a Ghost-type Pokemon, though?”

Vanquil pushed himself out of his seat. “That kid’s got some sort of sixth sense either way right? It’s worth a try. We’re still a bit early but maybe Allister is already there.”

* * *

“You...You want me to try...talking to a Pokemon that’s... _ inside of you _ , Juliet?”

Arceus, it sounded so  _ unbelievable _ out loud. “I know it sounds crazy, Allister, but trying is more than enough for me even if you can’t find anything.”

The young Ghost Gym leader nodded hesitantly. “O-OK. Can you bend down a little so I can touch your head?”

“Sure.” Juliet bent her knees so the boy was in arms reach of her head. “Should I think a certain way or do something to help?”

“Just hold still.”

She couldn’t read Allister’s expression at all because of his Corsola mask, but she assumed he had his eyes closed in concentration. His hand moved across her head, as if repositioning...whatever he was doing, to get a better reading. To her friends, who were watching from a distance, it probably looked strange to be getting head pats from the young boy. 

Suddenly, Allister’s hand retracted from her head and he hugged it to his chest. 

“Ah!”

“You OK?!” Juliet asked in surprise. The boy nodded and looked at his hand, feeling the lingering shock that buzzed through his fingers.

“It felt like...I got shocked by something. And...I think I saw it.”

“What did you see?”

“It was a Pokemon I’ve never seen before. It had teal eyes, white smoke coming out of its head, and a black body. It...looked like a Ghost Pokemon, but it didn’t have the same...energy as one.” Allister reached out to Juliet. “Can...Can I try again? I want to see if I can talk to it.”

“Are you sure? It looked like you got hurt-”

“I-I’m fine! It just surprised me.” This time, Allister placed both of his heads on her head. Now it really felt like she was participating in some sort of weird ritual. After what felt like an hour, Allister pulled back his hands. 

“Were you able to talk to it?”

“Ummmm…I didn’t get much since this Pokemon didn’t want to talk to me but, I was able to get a better idea of its energy.” Allister replied quietly.

“You said that earlier too. What do you mean by energy?” Juliet asked.

“My ability to see deceased Ghost Pokemon also allows me to feel the energy or soul of Pokemon as well, living or not. For Pokemon that have passed away, I can feel if their soul is at peace...or if it's troubled.” He explained. 

Juliet was struck with an odd sense of deja vu, remembering the conversation she had with Leon not too long ago about their ‘auras’. Except what Allister was talking about, sounded a lot more spiritual in nature. It was fascinating if not a bit  _ unsettling. _

“That’s a pretty...otherworldly power to have.”

“...I don’t like using it much because a lot of times, the fate of Ghost Pokemon are often unfortunate.” Allister pointed out, while looking down at his shoes. 

“I can only imagine and I really appreciate you using it on me despite that.”

“I’m...happy to help, Juliet. So, from what I can tell, this Pokemon’s energy feels...hrm...how do I put this…” He hummed thoughtfully. “It’s like...sorrow but deeper.”

“Sorrow but deeper...Maybe melancholic?”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s kind of like...being wrapped up in sadness and loneliness.”

“...That sounds about right.”

Loneliness, huh? Could it be that Darkrai was seeking out some sort of company? It was...a strange thing to think about, considering its nature of being a Pokemon of nightmares. It did partially answer the question as to why it was lingering inside of her, but there must be more to the picture. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get anything more concrete.” Allister apologized profusely. 

“Don’t apologize, Allister. I learned a lot more than I did before, so thank you.”

“Y-You’re welcome. And, if it’s not too much trouble, if you find out anything new, can you tell me about it?” 

“Sure, Allister. Thanks again. Now, the shoot will be starting soon so let’s get ready, OK?” Juliet said, ruffling the boy’s hair playfully. Even with the mask, she had a feeling he was smiling. 

* * *

“Come this way, Champion Leon. John’s room is over here.”

Leon followed the nurse down the halls of the children’s ward of the hospital, gently regarding any child that ran past him. He felt a sense of warm nostalgia seeing the children dressed in the uniforms of their favourite gym leaders, or even wrap makeshift blankets around their shoulders to be just like him. It reminded him of those early days of being a trainer where he had nothing but big hopes and dreams for the future, with his fiery determination lighting the way. 

But, being stuck in a hospital bed must have made those grand dreams of adventure feel so small. He wanted nothing more than to give the children courage and hope that they will someday be able to leap out into the world and strive for greatness. 

“I can’t wait for the Champion Cup! Leon will win again for sure!”

“Yeah! He’s so cool!”

Walking into the hospital room, Leon was...admittedly a bit embarrassed by all the posters of him that were plastered on every inch of the walls. The boy, John, wasn’t kidding when he wrote that he was a big fan of him. 

The chatter from the two boys in the room abruptly stopped, as they stared with their jaws dropped at who was standing by the doorway. The nurse smiled knowingly before bowing out of the room to leave the Champion with the two kids. Leon grinned widely at both of them. 

“Good afternoon-”

“LEON!!!!!” They screamed out in unison before scrambling up to him. Leon chuckled, opening his arms to allow the boys to hug him while he patted both of their heads. The blonde boy looked like he was on the verge of tears as he looked up at him with sparkling joy. 

“W-W-What are you doing here, Mister Leon?”

“You can just call me Leon.” The Champion laughed. “I thought it would be fun to tag along on one of Chairman Rose’s visits to the hospital. Are you perhaps John?”

“Y-Yes! It’s-I…” John stammered nervously. “I’m so happy to meet you! You’re my hero, Leon! I’ve always wanted to come to one of your matches but-”

“Whoa! Slow down, John! He just got here so take your time!” The other boy laughed at his friend’s eagerness. 

“S-Sorry. I got a little carried away...Leon, that’s my best friend, Tommy! He’s a big fan of you too.”

“It’s so awesome to meet you, Leon! You look even cooler in person!” Tommy exclaimed. Leon sheepishly rubbed the side of his neck. What a bunch of good kids - they reminded him a lot of Hop when he was younger. Full of energy, eye brimming with adoration - he hoped he could set a good example to them. 

“Thank you, both of you. Now, I’ll be here for the rest of the afternoon so what would you like to do while I’m here?”

Tommy rummaged through the room to find a black market that was suitable for signing with and handed it over to Leon before stretching out the front of his shirt. “Can you sign my shirt, please?”

“Sure! What about you, John?”

“Ummm...I want to show you something. I’ll be right back!” John sifted through his closet before dashing out of his room in a hurry. Tommy snickered, as if he knew exactly what his friend was up to. 

When John returned, Leon laughed heartily at his outfit. He was wearing a copy of his signature sword and shield jersey with a red blanket wrapped around his shoulders. It even had some patches and stickers on the back to represent the various sponsors and brands that were on his own. 

“L-Let’s have a Champion time!” John stuttered before striking the Champion’s famous pose. Tommy and Leon both clapped for him, making the blonde boy fold his arms behind his back bashfully. 

“Hang on, John. You’re missing something.” Leon noted. John looked up quizzically before his vision became slightly obstructed by whatever Leon put on his head. Reaching up to touch the brim, his eyes lit up excitedly. 

“There you go! Now you’re ready to give us a Champion time!”

* * *

Welp. This wasn’t how she imagined the shoot to turn out. A few seconds in the spinning cup of the Fighting/Ghost course made Juliet almost dispel her breakfast everywhere. It was a quick and decisive forfeit on her part, which was a first for the program. She currently lay on one of the benches in the locker room with a damp towel on her forehead and a trash bin by her head if she really needed it. Even though she was away from where the program was being filmed, she could hear the distant clangs of the spinning cup being punched around the course and she thought she was going to get sick again until she heard the door to the locker room open. 

“Are you OK?” Bea asked, walking into the locker room with a bottle of water. She set it down near Juliet before taking the damp towel to re-soak it in the nearby basin of water. She folded the towel and was about to apply it back on Juliet’s forehead when her rising form stopped her. 

“I’m fine now, Bea. Thank you.”

“If you’re sure. I’m glad you didn’t...uhhh…”

“Haha, I am too. Does that happen often?”

“No, but it HAS happened.”

Well, that was a little sad, knowing she was part of the minority who couldn’t take the spinning cup and punching boxing gloves and ghosts hands like it was some sort of human pinball machine. Good thing she didn’t grow up in Galar and had the desire to take on the Gym Challenge because she would have probably threw in the towel - not out of battle incompetence, but out of her incompetent stomach.

“I should have seen it coming. I get dizzy AND motion sickness easily…”

“Really? I can teach you some techniques to help with that.” Bea offered. “I know a few meditation techniques that can help keep your body calm even during rigorous activities.”

“I’ve always wondered what your training regimen is like. You train often in the Wild Area, right?”

“That’s right. Though, sometimes I get a little carried away.” The Fighting-type Gym Leader admitted sheepishly. 

Juliet grinned knowingly. “One of my Pokemon is like that. My Decidueye is always striving for great results with the maximum amount of efficiency because every second that doesn’t go towards training, is a second that could change the game.”

“It’s hard to break out of that mindset of discipline. My parents trained me day and night when I was a kid to be a strong fighter and a Pokemon trainer that pushing yourself to the limit is second nature to me.” Bea looked down at her knees. “That’s why if I don’t give it my all and yield results that my parents would be proud of, I would be letting them down.”

Juliet closed her eyes and nodded to herself. She knew exactly how it felt to be in that position, because being surrounded in that kind of environment molded your perspective in a way where that was the only life you knew. All that time and effort to train someone to be the strongest they can be, is precious. And, if that didn’t garner the expected results, then, what was the point of it all? It was a pessimistic way of thinking, and it took a lot of struggling and healing for her to break free from that. 

But, Bea was probably in a better situation than she was, based on how strong-willed the young Gym Leader was - which led her to believe that even if her parents were strict in their training, they still cared for her and likely trained her gradually so she can wield that resolve with her own hands. 

It was admirable. 

“In a lot of ways, I know how you feel. But, falling down is a part of getting back up, right?”

Bea cracked a small, rare smile at that. “...I guess you’re right. Thank you, Juliet.”

“Hee hee, you’re welcome. Ah, that reminds me,” Juliet fished through her bag and pulled out a small treat bag that was tied with a blue ribbon. “Sweets taste better when you’re feeling a bit down so, have some of the brownies that I’ve made!”

The Gym Leader’s eyes practically sparkled at the mere mention of the word ‘sweets’ and looked at the offered bag of goodies with hopefulness. It looked like she was trying her best to contain her excitement, but was clearly struggling. “O-Oh! Thank you very much!”

“No problem! Baking is more my forte than cooking so hopefully you like them! Though, you should probably get back to the shoot soon!”

“Oh, right! Please let the staff know if you need anything.” 

“I will!” Juliet grabbed the water bottle that was left for her and wandered outside of the gym to get some fresh air while walking through Stow-on-Side. When Bea was certain that no one was around, she snuck her hand into the treat bag and took a bite out of a brownie. 

“It’s so good…” She squealed to herself.

* * *

“But Lee really is the greatest Trainer! And I don’t want people to be laughing at him all because his little brother is rubbish!"

Juliet stopped in her tracks and strained her ears at that distant outburst. Was that...Hop? It sounded like him. She jogged down the dirt path until she saw the figures of Gloria and Hop in front of the Pokemon Centre. She hid in one of the alleys and peeked over to them. 

“But, Hop, you’re not rubbish!”

“It’s still not enough! I’m not enough! I’ve got to try harder! And harder and harder till no one’s laughing! I’m off, mate! Off to find the kind of Pokemon that I can really draw the strength out of!"

“Wait, Hop!” Gloria reached out to Hop’s retreating form, until it dropped back to her side in defeat. Juliet took a step out of her hiding place to see what was up, but stopped. She wondered if it was...right to butt into their squabble? But at the same time, she couldn’t shake the uneasiness that came from not doing anything. 

She’ll check up on Gloria later - it looked like Hop was hurting the most right now. 

Juliet slipped out of Stow-on-Side without Gloria noticing and followed the footprints that Hop left behind in the dirt. Venturing through the winding route, she eventually heard what sounded like training on the other side of some boulders. She noticed a gap between them and squeezed her way through until she was out and face to face with Hop in the middle of training. 

She opened her mouth to get his attention but noticed something...off. She looked at his party of Pokemon, which consisted of Raboot, Silicobra, Cramorant, and Toxel. 

But...where was his Wooloo and Corvisquire? The latter three Pokemon were new additions to his team but his Wooloo and Corvisquire were nowhere to be seen despite the young trainer using them for his Gym battles thus far. 

“Hey, Hop!”

Hop whipped his head around to look at her. “Oh! Juliet! How did you find me?”

“I heard someone working hard on their training and couldn’t help but sneak a peek.” She walked over to his party and bent down to their level. “Interesting set up you have here.”

He scratched the back of his head. “I’m experimenting with new strategies so I’ve caught some new Pokemon.”

“I see. Were you not satisfied with the way you were doing things before? You were doing just fine, you know.”

“I...I need to try harder so I can get to Lee’s level!” Hop bit the bottom of his lip and clenched his fists tightly. “I have to be someone worthy of being the brother of Galar’s Unbeatable Champion.”

Juliet breathed deeply at that. The feeling of inferiority. 

“Who said you aren’t worthy of being Leon’s brother?”

“...” Hop averted his gaze. “...A trainer that Gloria and I have been running into. He beat me in a Pokemon battle, but he said that I was dragging Lee’s good name through the mud, being so rubbish like I was... And I just can’t get those words out of my head! I don’t want people to think Lee is weak because of me...”

“Hop…” Juliet walked passed him and over to a smaller boulder to sit on. She patted the empty space beside her, to which he took a seat next to her. “Who’s the brother of Leon? You, or the trainer who beat you?”

“...Me.”

“Say it like you mean it.”

“Me! I’m Lee’s brother!” 

“Exactly. And as your brother, who do you think knows Leon more - you or the trainer?”

“I do! I know him better than anyone else!”

“So, why does this trainer’s words matter? They don’t know Leon like you do, so how could they possibly know that Leon would ever think that you’re dragging his name in the mud? If there’s anything that’s rubbish, it’s that.”

Hop’s shoulders deflated. “I...I-I don’t know. But, if Bede could beat me, then that means he’s one step ahead of me!”

“And?”

The young trainer was slightly taken aback by her retort. “...Do you think I’m falling behind too?”

“Arceus, Hop. That’s not what I’m implying at all.” Juliet snorted. “What’s wrong with growing at your own pace? If you go in rushing through the journey without taking the time to enjoy the things around you, you’ll end up missing out on so many wonderful things.”

“But, there’s no time! I have to get stronger now or else-”

“Or else what, Hop?”

“I...I won’t get to where Lee is. Even when Lee started out as a trainer, he was unstoppable! Why am I so far behind?” Hop groaned out in frustration. 

“Because you’re not your brother, Hop. You’re you.” She said bluntly. She could only sugar coat encouragement so much before it sounded disingenuous. The truth can sting, but the pain can easily be forgotten once you acknowledge what it is you need to do. 

“There’s other trainers like you, Hop, who all want to be like Leon. To have his strength. To have his passion. But you know what’s better than trying to be just like someone else? Being yourself.” Juliet looked up at the bright blue sky. “No one in the world can be carbon copies of each other, but our unique individuality is what makes this world as vibrant as it is.” She looked at Hop seriously. 

“Do you want to be remembered as Hop, a trainer who achieved victory with his own unique strength? Or would you rather be remembered as the brother who is chasing down his older brother’s shadow?”

Hop looked at her cluelessly and at a loss for words. It was almost like his view of the world was flipped on its head. “I...I don’t know.”

“And that’s OK. You don’t have to decide now. But think about it, long and hard. You can keep training with different Pokemon and trying out different strategies but, myself, my team, Leon, Gloria, and other people who support you, we want to see  _ YOU _ battle.” Juliet jumped off of the boulder and walked towards the crack she came in before. Before squeezing herself through, she looked back to the trainer.

“Some Pokemon may seem stronger than others, but the under dogs are the ones with the greatest potential.” Juliet didn’t catch Hop’s bewildered expression from her cryptic message, but she was sure he would figure out what she meant eventually.

“What do I want to be remembered for…?” Hop repeated quietly to himself. He pulled out the two Pokeballs that were strapped to his belt and stared at them longingly. 

* * *

“Hey Champ, we should be heading out now.” Rose interrupted.

“Awwwww!! Already?” Tommy pouted. 

“Hehe, don’t worry. I’ll come visit again.” Leon returned his Charizard back into his Pokeball and went over to pat both Tommy and John on their heads. Instead, John rushed forward and buried his face into Leon’s jersey, tears leaking out of his eyes. 

“John? What’s with the waterworks? Did you not have fun today?”

“S-Sorry! It’s just-!” John sniffled. “Today was the most fun I’ve ever had and I’m sad that it’s already over…”

The Champion smiled tenderly and soothingly patted his head. “Hey, I had a lot of fun too! And I’ll do my best to visit again soon, AND, make sure to get you two front row seats to this year’s Champion Cup.”

“Really?!” 

“It’s a Champion’s promise. But, until then, be good, OK?”

“We promise!”

“Good. Well, it was great meeting you two and I hope to see you again at the Champion Cup!” Leon turned around to follow Chairman Rose out of the hospital when he felt someone tug on his cape. 

“Wait! Before you go, I want to ask you something.” John said softly as he let go of his cape. Leon looked to Rose and gave him a nod that said ‘Go on ahead, I’ll catch up’. Chairman Rose chuckled to himself before heading back down to the ground floor of the hospital. Leon knelt down to John’s level. 

“What’s on your mind?”

The boy twiddled his thumbs nervously and shuffled awkwardly in place. Tommy came up from behind him to pat him on the back as a form of encouragement. John smiled at his friend and took a deep breath. “Leon, do you have to be strong to be a good Pokemon trainer?”

“Strong?”

“I...I want to be a Pokemon trainer some day, but I don’t know if I can if I’m sick. I want to be strong like you but…”

Leon gave him a toothy grin. “And you can.”

John looked at him hopefully. “Really?”

“Yeah, if you work hard and follow what’s important to you, you might even be stronger than me someday!” Leon put a comforting hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently. “I can only imagine what you’re going through but, I wasn’t too different from you when I was a kid, John.”

“You weren’t?”

“Nope. I was just a simple kid who loves Pokemon just as much as you do and it’s that passion that led me to where I am today. The Champion you see right now, wasn’t born overnight.” He moved his hand from his shoulder and pointed a finger over John’s left chest. “Everyone has a fire inside of them, that’s just waiting to explode with everything that you’re capable of. Don’t you want to show that off someday?”

“Y-Yeah. Yeah! I want to take on the Gym Challenge when I’m older and be a Champion!” John declared. 

“That’s the spirit, John! You’ve been recovering a little bit every day so it’s only a matter of time until you’re finally discharged!” Tommy added enthusiastically. John nodded eagerly and they both pumped their fists into the sky, as if making a promise to each other of their impending rivalry. 

Leon laughed joyfully at the sight. This was what brought so much fulfillment in his life as Champion - instilling hope in young trainers everywhere and pushing them to be the best that they can be. 

That’s what he wanted to represent. 

“I can already tell you two are going to grow up to be fine trainers.”

“Does that mean you endorse us for the Gym Challenge?!” Tommy asked impatiently. 

“Don’t you think it’s a bit too early for that?”

“Then, when we’re both ready to take on the Gym Challenge, I hope you’ll be watching us!”

“I look forward to it, Tommy, John.” Leon tipped his cap at the two boys. “I’ll see you two again soon.” And with a dramatic flourish of his cape, Leon descended down the stairs while waving back to them until he couldn’t see them anymore. As he was about to exit the hospital to catch up with Chairman Rose and Oleana, his Rotom phone alerted him of a text. Pulling it out, he saw that it was a text from Hop. 

**Hop:** hey lee

**Hop:** if you’re free, can we talk?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darkrai has finally been revealed! There's going to be a lot of integration with his event and lore from the games so I hope you'll look forward to it!
> 
> I also had a lot of fun writing for Bea and Allister, and I really wanted to give Hop the encouragement that he deserved since we didn't really get to see how he overcame his insecurities in the game! There will be more on that in the next chapter!
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading this chapter, and please consider leaving a kudos and or a comment if you'd like!


	11. Ghosts of the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite manifesting in her dreams, Darkrai is still reluctant to talk about his reasons for haunting Juliet's dreams and his past all together, preferring her to divert her pity towards someone who deserves it. 
> 
> Hop and Leon have a brotherly heart-to-heart where Leon thinks back on his time as a Gym Challenger in his youth.
> 
> Meanwhile, Raid Prism takes a trip to Ballonlea to deliver an old letter that Mary received while reminiscing on spooky encounters they've experience during their travels.

**Chapter 8: Ghosts from the Past**

* * *

**_“Champion Juliet…”_ **

**_“Champion Juliet…”_ **

_“OK, OK. I heard you the first time. You’re not going to stop calling me that, are you?”_

**_“Deep down, you miss being called that, no?”_ **

_“What makes you think that?”_

**_“Your nightmares reveal to me events from your past. The moments that haunt you. Besides, the attire you don in your dreams reflects the wish that never came to be.”_ **

_“What are you talking-” Wait. What was she wearing?! It didn’t feel like her pajamas and her hair was up. And it was tied up with a ribbon? And were those hoop earrings dangling from her ears? Her ears weren’t pierced though! She put her arms out in front of her and even in the darkness, she could make out the feeling and outline of white fingerless gloves that were lined with gold that stretched just shy of her elbows._

_Wasn’t this…_

**_“Do you remember? This was what you wanted to wear if your reign as Champion extended into your adolescence, even into your adulthood.”_ **

_It was true. She vaguely remembered the drawing she doodled as a child of just that. The scrawls were incomprehensible though, but perhaps part of her consciousness filled in the gaps of what it could have been. It was bittersweet though, that she got the chance to see it fully realized in her dreams._

_“Huh...So, I had big dreams like that…”_

_Moments that haunt her, huh? Yeah, this would have been one of those moments. Being reminded of what she wanted to be made her wish she had her child-like innocence again; instead of adopting a cynical outlook on the world. What a nosy Pokemon. She didn’t want to admit it right away but, in a way, she had thought about what her life would have been like if she tread down the path of a Champion for however long she could uphold it._

_And there wasn’t anything wrong with looking back and reminding herself of some of the positive moments that made her feel strong._

_Champion Juliet...A title that served as a double-edge sword to her pride._

_“OK. Maybe you’re right. But it’s not like I see myself with that kind of power anymore.”_

**_“And why is that?”_ **

_“Well…”_

**_“I don’t understand the importance of titles and status that you humans are so fond of, but aren’t titles just imaginary labels to make one feel mightier than they actually are?”_ **

_“That’s...a blunt way of putting it. I guess you’re not wrong.”_

**_“Then, wouldn’t that render titles in themselves meaningless? Whether you are a Champion or not, it doesn’t eliminate the power you had from when that title was given to you.”_ **

_“...Are you saying that even if I’m not a Champion anymore, I still have...a heart of one?”_

**_“That’s for you to decide. I’m merely speaking from my perspective.”_ **

_Who knew Darkrai could be so philosophical? It was...honestly refreshing to hear the viewpoints of someone who wasn’t human, so the judgement felt more objective._

_“...Can’t you show yourself to me already? Allister was able to see you.”_

**_“Ahh yes. That boy. He has tremendous power to be able to see me outside of the realm of dreams.”_ **

_“Yes, and I want to see you. It sounds like you know a lot about me and I think it’s only fair that you return the favor.”_

**_“I doubt my existence is of any interest to you. You might learn and see things that you’d rather not have known.”_ **

_“Try me.”_

**_“...Very well.”_ **

_She couldn’t see well through the black abyss, but once she saw the familiar pair of haunting teal eyes, smoke like wisp coming out of its head, and a body of pitch blackness that Allister described, Darkrai had finally appeared to her._

_“Hello.”_

**_“Greetings. Are you satisfied now?”_ **

_“Geez, you make it seem like I forced you against your will! Why are you so hesitant?”_

**_“...Normally humans who managed to get a glimpse of me cower in fear and tell me to leave at once.”_ **

_“...I guess I can’t really blame them. You kind of look like a ghost.”_

**_“And yet you don’t seem perturbed at all.”_ **

_“To be honest, it hasn’t quite hit me that I’m talking to a Mythical Pokemon. The way you’re described in books makes you sound like an evil Pokemon, But here you are - just having a normal conversation with a human in her dreams.”_

**_“...Strange, isn’t it? You’re an odd and naive human to be so trusting of a Pokemon like me.”_ **

_“I mean, Allister talked about you probably being lonely and sad so I can’t help but sympathize a little-”_

**_“I don’t recall asking for your pity.”_ **

_“What’s wrong with pity?”_

**_“...I’m not one you should waste your pity on.”_ **

_“I can pity whoever I want. In all seriousness, I do want to know more about you.”_

**_“Perhaps another time. It’s time for you to wake up.”_ **

_“Man, already? Guess I can’t escape cliffhangers in my dreams. I’ll see you again later, Darkrai!”_

**_“...Yes. See you again, Champion Juliet.”_ **

* * *

“Hellooooooooooooooo?” Vanquil yelled into Juliet’s ear. She jolted up, completely disoriented for a moment of where she was. 

Oh right. 

She must have dozed off during their break in between commentating for the fourth gym. It was hard for her to go through a day without taking a nap or two. She groggily wiped her mouth with her sleeve and looked at Vanquil with sleepy eyes.

“Hey, Van. Sorry, should we get ready for the next challenger?”

“Yeah, about that,” Vanquil started with a grimace. “Something happened to the mural.”

“The mural? You mean the thing that looked like it was graffitied by a 5 year old?”

“...It kind of does look like that. But, yeah. One of the challengers, Bede, smashed it with Chairman Rose’s Copperajah.”

_“What?!”_ Juliet sat up, fully awake now from that announcement. “Why did he go and do _that!?_ Ignore my insult just now - doesn’t that mural have some sort of historical significance?”

“You should come to see for yourself.” Vanquil led her out of the Gym and up the flights of stairs that led to the famous mural. Or what was left of it. Reaching the top revealed what was actually behind the mural the entire time. Amidst the rocks from the wall that were crumbled over, stood two statues of what looked to be canine-like Pokemon, both brandishing a sword and shield, guarding two statues of humans with crowns on their heads. 

Taking in the statues, Juliet couldn’t help but wonder. Why was the mural hiding these important artifacts? It’s as if it was put up intentionally to prevent anyone from finding out the truth. 

“You’re probably thinking the same thing that me and the others thought. Sonia was pretty stumped about it too, but she seemed to be motivated by this discovery.” Vanquil answered. 

“Where are the others anyway?”

“Probably talking to Chairman Rose and Oleana back at the Gym. Bede got disqualified after all. I can’t help but feel for him, since it sounded like everything he did was for the Chairman.”

“Damn. They went that far, huh?” Juliet lamented. Looking down at the broken rocks of the mural and then thinking back to Bede and what Hop had told her about him. At first, she didn’t have the greatest first impression of him. To crush someone’s determination like that? It was hardly a display of good sportsmanship. 

But, then she remembered the script given to them about Bede’s upbringing. No family to speak of, basically adopted by Chairman Rose, endorsed by him, and then to have that all taken away by the same man, even though he was just trying to repay his debts? Bede’s world must have come crashing down all at once. 

In a way, she kind of understood how he must be feeling over not having a place to belong without anyone to call a family. Sometimes even the people who you thought were family, turn out to be people who just wanted to use you for their own gain, but that wasn’t something that anyone could easily accept. What were you supposed to do then? Where could you possibly go from there? These were only a few questions that were probably working Bede’s mind on overdrive.

“There you guys are! Jules, I’m surprised you managed to sleep through that! The ground shook and everything.” Tessu remarked, walking up to them with Mary next to her. 

“Sorry about that. I was talking to Darkrai.” Juliet said nonchalantly. 

“I’d never thought I would hear that being said so casually. You two buddy-buddy now or something?”

“Hardly. But, we’re getting there. Anyway, what happens now?”

“Well, the commotion put a damper on everything so we’re being dismissed early today and we’ll resume tomorrow.” Mary sighed. 

“I wonder if disqualifications like this have happened before. I mean, I guess it’s deserved since he did decimate a piece of Galar’s history, but look at this!” Tessu stretched out her arms, expressing the grandiose of the statues before them. “This is a _way_ greater discovery than that graffiti-looking wall!”

“You might want to tone it down so no one hears that.”

“Oh, right. But, don’t you guys think so too? I’m really curious to see what Sonia is able to gather from all this. It’s like we’re living in the middle of a great historical event!”

“I don’t think we’re the main protagonists, though.” Vanquil joked.

“At least important supporting characters probably.” Juliet added sarcastically. “So, what should we do now? Hang out in Stow-on-Side for the rest of the day?”

“Actually,” Mary pulled out a worn-out, dusty looking envelope from her bag. “I have to deliver this letter that I got from a little girl in Hammerlocke to a boy in Ballonlea.”

Tessu squinted hard at the envelope, a little put off by how old it looked. “A little girl gave you this? This thing looks ancient! Heck, it looks like it might fall apart if you’re not careful.” 

“Should we call for a Corviknight Taxi to take us there?” Vanquil asked.

“Where’s the fun in that? Let’s get there by going through Glimwood Tangle! It’s such a pretty forest and I’d love to catch a glimpse at some Galarian Ponytas.”

“But,” Juliet looked to Mary. “Are you going to be OK, Mary? You don’t like the dark.”

“I-I’ll be fine! I wouldn’t go by myself, but if you guys are here, I’ll be OK.” Mary said nervously. 

“In that case, feel free to hold onto the back of my jacket or something.” 

“Thanks.”

“Then, let’s go! Anyone got a flashlight on them?” Tessu asked as she started to lead the way back down to take the path leading to Glimwood Tangle on the other side of the Gym. Vanquil rummaged through his bag and tossed her a flashlight.

“You mean torch? That’s what they called flashlights in Galar.”

“I wonder why? When I think of torch, I think of a flaming stick that characters in an adventure RPG would use.”

“Maybe flashlight has a different meaning here?”

“Language is weird.” Juliet concluded. She reached into her own bag and pulled out a light stick she forgot she had from watching an exhibition match between Leon and Raihan. “Here, Mary. This might help.”

Mary took the offered light stick and switched it on to the warm orange light. “Thank you.”

This wasn’t their first time exploring the dense forest filled with luminescent mushrooms, but there was always something chilling about taking those first few steps. The trees stood up high, towering over the vicinity like a cloak, completely blocking out any sunlight from coming in. The only sources of light came from the glowing mushrooms that were littered amongst the shrubs and bushes. The faint cries coming from Pokemon in the distance didn’t exactly help with the forest’s eeriness. 

“It’s kind of strange how quiet Glimwood Tangle is. Even though it’s home to lots of Pokemon, I can hardly hear any.” Tessu noticed, breaking the silence that had settled over the group during their trek. 

“I think it has to do with how dense the forest is.” Vanquil responded before his voice got low. “Someone could be screaming for help and no one would even know.”

Tessu smacked his arm. “Dude, don’t say creepy things like that.”

“I mean, if you’re going to go there,” Juliet looked around the dark forest to see a few Phantumps floating in between the trees. “Aren’t Phantumps the spirits of children that died while lost in the forest?”

“Oh gosh, I don’t want to think about that!”

“But, this seems like a pretty good setting to talk about scary stories, don’t you think? Anyone got any?” Vanquil asked with a sly grin. Tessu shivered and started speed walking ahead of them to avoid hearing any ghost stories.

“Count me out!”

“Wait, Tessu! We should stick together! We can save ghost stories for later-”

“Later?!”

“Not really a ghost story, but to this day, I still don’t remember how I got Hubert, my Chandelure.” Juliet started. “Remember when we got separated at one point while we were trekking in Reversal Mountain in Unova?”

“Oh, yeah! We were so worried about you since there was a dust storm that swept through where we were trekking.” Vanquil added. 

“Yeah, but I remember taking cover in an abandoned house that was just...there. It felt so out of place since there weren’t any other houses and it was surrounded by dead trees. It looked like a house a witch would be living in.”

“...A-And you went in?!” Mary squeaked. 

“What else was I supposed to do in a dust storm? The worst thing that could have happened was probably running into a homeless person who was living there but anyway-” Juliet cleared her throat. “So, I went into this house and it was for sure abandoned, but it was practically a hot spot for ghost Pokemon. It didn’t bother me that much at the time but what Allister said about how ghost Pokemon can sense the energy of other ghost Pokemon and even those of humans on the rare chance, I wonder now if there was a ghost still living in that house because of how many there were.”

“And then?!” Vanquil goaded. 

“Even though the ghost Pokemon didn’t scare me, it felt like...something else was watching me. It wasn’t like how it is in horror movies where the character was overcome with a sense of dread - it felt like whatever was watching me, was just...curious. Like, child-like curiosity even.”

“Like a kid?” Mary shuddered and couldn’t help but tighten the grip she had on the back of Juliet’s varsity jacket. “Aren’t kids the scariest thing in horror movies?”

“True, but the ghost Pokemon were pretty happy and well-mannered, unlike what you’d expect from them so perhaps this other...presence was friendly. But, uhhh…” Juliet scratched the side of her cheek and looked to the side. “I can’t remember what happened right after. The next thing I knew, I woke up somewhere else along Reversal Mountain where a hiker found me and let me back to civilization. And, there was another Pokeball strapped to my belt that wasn’t there before.”

“That’s...pretty anti-climatic.” Vanquil said with a deadpan look on his face.

“Hey, I said it wasn’t much of a ghost story-”

“But, did you ever think about going back to that house?”

Juliet hummed. “Probably, but I couldn’t really remember how I got there since I was running to get out of the storm so I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going. But, funnily enough, Hubert was a Litwick at the time and he was super affectionate and cuddly. I couldn’t exactly say no to him with how much he glued himself to me.”

“That’s so cute...Though, he’s not really like that now, huh?” Mary giggled.

“Nah. He mellowed out as he evolved but he always keeps a close eye on me-”

“Uhhh, speaking of keeping a close eye,” Vanquil gulped. “I can’t see Tessu anymore.”

* * *

Hop waited patiently inside of the Battle Cafe for Leon. He managed to snag a booth seat that was furthest away from the front of the cafe, to avoid attracting any sort of attention whether it was paparazzi that were after his brother or eavesdroppers in general. He heard the bell jingle from the front door and his head whipped around to see his older brother wearing sunglasses, a white facemask, and a different snapback with his hair up in a low pony-tail. It wasn’t a clever disguise by any means, but it was somehow enough to deter any attention from him. 

Hop waved him down, making Leon briskly walk over to him and slid into the booth seat opposite from him. Out of respect for his younger brother, Leon lowered the white mask from his face and removed his sunglasses, but kept the hat on for obvious reasons.

“Did I make you wait long, Hopscotch?”

“No. You’re right on time.” Hop looked down at the table, thinking hard about how he should bring up what was weighing on his mind. Maybe he should apologize first? No, the whole point was that he wanted to clarify WHY he apologized to Lee in the first place during that one run-in in Motostoke. 

“Ummm...How’ve you been, Lee?”

“I’ve been OK, busy as usual but not as stressed as before. How’s your Gym badge progress?”

“It’s going…” Hop sighed heavily and shook his head. As much as he wanted to feign a smile as to not worry his brother, he shouldn’t kid himself. “I’ve hit a bit of a wall, Lee.”

“A wall?”

“Yeah...The reason I apologized to you that one time was because...I lost to another challenger and he said some awful things about me and how I’m dragging your name into the mud with how weak I am.” Hop clutched his cup of hot cocoa, feeling the frustration tighten his throat. “Ever since then, I’ve been second guessing myself. I want to grow stronger quickly so I can get to where you are, Lee. But...it feels like I’m being left behind.”

“Hop…” Leon breathed deeply and folded his arms over the table. “You’re not dragging my name through the mud. Losing can make you feel down in the dumps but failure is a part of growth-”

“And how would you know what losing feels like, Lee? You’re the Unbeatable Champion. When was the last time you felt the bitterness of defeat?” Hop spat out. He slapped a hand over his mouth once he realized how harsh he sounded, and the way his brother’s eyes widened made him feel guilty immediately. 

“I...I’m so sorry, Lee. I…” But instead of his brother getting up from his seat, leaving him alone to wallow in his guilt and self-pity, Leon gave him a sad smile before lowering his head in shame. 

“No...You’re right, Hop. That was...insensitive of me to say. What I meant to say is…” Except, what could he say? What could he say to give his brother hope and reassurance that he could overcome those feelings of doubt? 

That’s when he remembered. He had gone through a similar situation before. Except the tension from that friendship wasn’t exactly resolved, but maybe it was time to finally work it out. 

But, his brother came first.

“You’re not the only one who has said something similar to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Back when I was taking on the Gym challenge…”

* * *

_“Hey Sonia! How’s your progress with the Gym Challenge?”_

_“It’s going great! Yamper and I just got our second badge! What about you, Leon?”_

_“Heh, I already got my third badge so I’ll be heading to Hammerlocke tomorrow!”_

_“That fast?! I better pick up the pace then!”_

_“You’ve got this, Sonia!”_

* * *

“Sonia and I were travel companions, kind of like how it is with you and Gloria. Sometimes we would travel solo for a bit so we could train up our respective Pokemon, but we’d always meet up to check in on each other’s progress. But…At some point, I was moving so far ahead that there were wider gaps where I wouldn’t see her. I tried to make it to her matches to cheer her on, but much like you, I wanted to get stronger.” Leon looked out the window of the cafe with wistful nostalgia. 

“And then one day, when she came to one of my matches…”

* * *

_“Leon, I’m dropping out of the Gym Challenge.”_

_“What?! Why?!”_

_“I’m...I’m so far behind from you that I don’t think I can make it. I’m sorry-”_

_“Don’t be sorry! You can’t quit now! I can help you train up your Pokemon so you can get your badges-”_

_“Stop, Leon. Thank you for trying to help but...I already made up my mind. I think I’m going to follow gran’s footsteps and become a Professor.”_

_“Are you sure, Sonia…?”_

_“I’m sure. I don’t think I’m cut out for this stuff, but Leon, I think you can do it and be the next Champion!”_

* * *

“I didn’t really think about it much then because I was so focused on becoming Champion that...I hadn’t realized just how defeated Sonia must have felt.” Leon leaned his chin on the palm of his hand.”Becoming strong is different for each person. It may come naturally for some trainers, and for others, it may take some time. But at the end of the day, how quickly it takes to get there isn’t what matters - it’s what you did to get there that makes you shine as a trainer.”

“And what about those trainers who gave up…?” Hop asked anxiously. 

“There’s also strength in realizing that the path you’re walking on, isn’t the one for you. People like Sonia, who can move on to pursue a new dream, I think they’re incredibly strong in their own way.” Leon looked at Hop seriously, but with renewed conviction. 

“Life is going to throw more obstacles and walls in your way, but if you believe in your own strength, you can grow and break through whatever that’s in your way and keep moving forward.” Leon smiled warmly. “That wall might look tall and impenetrable right now, but count on yourself and your Pokemon, and you can knock it right now.”

Hop’s lips quivered from his brother’s emotional pep talk. He was still dead set on taking his brother’s crown, but knowing that, if he were to fail, he would be able to pick himself back up and he’d still be strong no matter what. He balled his fists and fought back the urge to cry in front of his brother, which made him smile in amusement.

“You can cry in front of me, you know.”

“I-I would if we weren’t in public.”

Leon laughed. “Fair enough.” He leaned towards Hop and put a hand on his head, making him raise his head to look at him. 

“Whatever happens at the Champion Cup, I want you to know that I’ll always be so proud of you, Hop. You’re a great trainer, so go out there and show the world what you’re made of.” Leon raised his fist up to his brother’s face, hoping that Hop would knock his own fist against it with newfound determination. Hop fought the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes and bumped a fist against his brother’s with a shaky smile. 

“Thank you, Lee. For saying all that. I feel a lot better, but don’t think that I won’t fight any less hard to reach the top.”

“Heh, I wouldn’t have it any other way, lil’ bro. Now, let me treat you to some ice cream-” Suddenly, Leon’s Rotom phone binged from an incoming text. The specific notification sound indicated that it was a text from Chairman Rose. 

“Hang on, Hopscotch. Let me check this text real quick.” He pulled out his phone and skimming through the text made his eyebrows raised in surprise. 

“Did something happen?” Hop asked curiously. 

“Hop, the challenger you lost to, was it Bede?”

“Yeah, it was. Why?”

“...He’s been disqualified from the Gym Challenge.”

“Huh?!”

* * *

“...I kind of wanted to spend time with the Galarian Ponytas a bit longer.”

“They were so cute! And they really liked you, Mary.”

Finally reaching the end of Glimwood Tangle, the forest opened up to the magical, colourful town that was Ballonlea. There were colourful glowing mushrooms wherever they looked, on top of Chinchous dancing around to the natural glow emanating from the fungi. 

It was a town straight out of a fairy tale. 

“So, where should we start-” Vanquil was cut off when a little kid scurried past them, chanting over and over about how he wanted to be a Pokemon and proceeded to scramble up a tree as if he were one. 

“...I was going to say that we should try talking to any little kid we saw but I think we can check THAT kid off.” Juliet muttered. 

“Did the little girl say what the boy looked like? It doesn’t look like there’s a name either.” Tessu asked. Mary shook her head and pulled the old letter back out. 

“No, but this town is kind of small so it shouldn’t take too long to find him.” 

They spent around an hour going from door-to-door, asking any children if they knew a little girl living in Hammerlocke, but their parents shook their heads. They returned to the Pokemon Centre to take a quick break when Hubert popped out of his Pokeball without Juliet even releasing him. 

“Hubert? What’s wrong?” She asked. The ghost Pokemon let out a ghostly whisper, gesturing to the letter in Mary’s hands before wandering over to a house that they hadn’t visited yet. 

“What’s your Pokemon doing, Jules?” Vanquil wondered. Juliet held her chin, lost in thought. She recalled what Allister had said about his power to speak to deceased Ghost Pokemon. Something about...feeling their energy? Could Ghost Pokemon feel the energy of other ghosts too?

“I think Hubert’s on to something.” She knocked on the door and a middle aged man with a newsboy cap and moustache opened the door. He kindly regarded the group and tilted his head to the side quizzically. 

“Oh? And what can I help you folks with?”

“Sorry to bother you, sir. But, we were wondering if you have any children, like a son perhaps?” Juliet motioned Mary over to show him the old worn letter. “A little girl from Hammerlocke gave us a letter to be delivered to a boy here in Ballonlea.”

“Hammerlocke, you say? Wait a moment...can I see that for a moment?” The man asked. Mary gave him the letter and watched him squint at something in the corner of the envelope. Then, the man smiled widely. 

“I knew I recognized that handwriting! I think you’re mistaken. This letter must be for me.”

“For you? But-”

“Since you came all this way, why don’t you four come in? I’ll explain inside. Oh, and call me Frank.”

Frank led the group and Hubert into his house, where four of his children were gathered around the living room all watching TV. “Hey kiddos. I’ve got some guests over so if you need me, I’ll be in the kitchen.”

“OK, dad!” They all shouted in unison. 

“Take a seat.” Frank offered. Each of them took a seat at the dining table while Hubert wandered on his own around the house. The man carefully opened the envelope and delicately unfolded the worn letter tucked inside. None of them could see what was written, but the way Frank smiled nostalgically, it was clearly a touching letter. He wiped away a single tear before gently putting the letter down.

“Paula was the name of a girl I spent all my time playing with when I was a young lad…” Frank started. “She fell ill. Didn’t tell me, though. She kept it a secret just how sick she was. We ended up having a great row about it...Then I moved away not long after that fight.” He frowned deeply. “I never met her again after the day I left. You...You said the girl who gave you the letter was…”

Mary nodded slowly. “She was little. She had dark skin, medium length black hair, and wore a pink dress.”

Frank choked. “T-That’s Paula alright.”

The four of them looked at each other with dropped jaws and widened eyes. All of them suddenly felt a big chill go down their spine at the implication, but their eyes eventually softened once it dawned on them that the little girl Paula had likely passed away due to her illness.

“I-I’m so sorry, Frank…” Mary apologized sadly. 

“What are you sorry for?” The man looked at the letter again with a gentle smile. “I should be thanking you all for delivering this to me. Even despite our little fallout, to think she still felt fondly for me...I wish I could thank her as well and properly apologize.”

“If she’s from Hammerlocke, maybe she’s resting in the cemetery there…?” Vanquil suggested carefully. 

“That’s...That’s a good idea, lad. I think I’ll go there to pay my respects.” Frank got up from his seat and walked over to the stove. “Why don’t you all stay awhile? I should have offered tea from the start! How impolite of me.”

“Thank you, Frank.” Juliet thanked before pulling up her Rotom phone and rapidly typed something in their group chat.

**Juliet:** Holy shit

**Juliet:** Mary met a ghost

**Mary:** ^^;

**Tessu:** AAAAAAAAAA

**Vanquil:** I’m still shook idk about 

you guys

**Mary:** But at least we got a 

happy ending out of it?

Hubert suddenly returned, startling Juliet in her seat before noticing that he was holding something between his arms. It looked like a dark, purple raggedy cloth. She looked at her Chandelure confusingly. “Where did you get this?” Instead of answering her question, he pointed one of his candlestick arms outward towards Mary, as if to say that it was for her. 

“Uhhh...Hubert says this is for you.”

“Um? Thank you? But what is it?” Mary pulled up her Rotom phone and typed in the description of the cloth, and it brought up a few results that all pointed to it being a Reaper Cloth, which was an item used to evolve Dusklops into a Dusknoir. 

_“Thank you....Mary…”_

Mary tensed up, her hair standing on end at what felt like a whisper that was said right in her ear. She looked around frantically, making the others look at her in bewilderment. “D-D-Did you guys hear that too?”

“Hear what?” Vanquil looked at Juliet and Tessu, who just shrugged and shook their heads. 

“I-I-I heard someone whisper ‘thank you’ into my ear.”

Tessu squeaked and clinged to Juliet’s arm as her eyes also frantically looked around the room for any sneaky specters. Juliet chuckled and comfortingly patted her friend’s back before returning Hubert back into his Pokeball. “The Reaper Cloth must be a thank you gift.”

“Seems like a strange gift to get from a little ghost girl.” Vanquil mumbled. 

“Oof, you better take that back or you’ll get hexed.” Juliet warned teasingly. 

“D-Did I say strange? I meant unique!”

* * *

Somewhere, in an underground power plant, Chairman Rose silently inspects the countless tubes filled with some sort of energy, that are scattered throughout the dimly lit lab. Workers, all donning Macro Cosmos uniforms, move from monitor to monitor, typing away rapidly while closely monitoring a large screen that displays a massive creature, floating dormant in a tank of strange, orange liquid. 

It looked like something out of this world, appearing to be an exoskeleton with sharp scales protruding out of its thin body and head, along with a long spiky tail that stretched out and curled, like the stinger of a Drapion. 

Chairman Rose approaches one of his employees, who was writing down on a clipboard in front of the creature’s tank. “How is it?”

“It’s vitals are stable, but it doesn’t look like it’ll regain consciousness any time soon.”

“And, what of its origins?”

“It’s hard to say right now, but the power harbouring inside of this creature shows similar readings to the power coming from Power Spots and Dynamax.”

“Hm.” Chairman Rose mused. “Excellent work. Please keep up the good work.”

“Yes, sir!” The employee bowed his head and walked away to document his findings to the other scientists and workers. 

“The Darkest Day...1000 years from now…” Chairman Rose mutters under his breath as he regards the creature’s tank with growing fascination and interest. Letting go of the strand of hair he had been twirling between his fingers, he frowns lightly at the turn of events from earlier. 

“Bede...I expected better of you…”

* * *

**Full Reference of Juliet's Champion Outfit**

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a lighter chapter - the calm before the storm, so to speak!
> 
> There's going to be another update that focuses on Leon and Sonia's friendship and old rivalry that wasn't really elaborated in the games. I feel like they deserve some closure and transparency in regards to the rift in their relationship since it seems like they're actually good friends based on how they were talking to each other over the phone at the end of that one Twilight Wings episode!
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading this chapter and please leave a kudos and or comment if you'd like!


	12. Side Chapter - Mending Old Ties and Finding New Ones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leon and Sonia work out the unresolved tension from their past rivalry during their Gym Challenge all those years ago.
> 
> With Bede being chosen as Opal's predecessor, the elderly Fairy Gym Leader reminisces her time as a Gym Leader as she's packing away some of her things to make room for when Bede fully takes over her gym.

**Side Chapter: Mending Old Ties and Finding New Ones**

* * *

He wasn’t going to give up. He absolutely couldn’t afford to. It was his _destiny_ to become the next Champion so he could help Chairman Rose fulfill his goals. He owed him that much. 

But there Bede stood, in front of the entrance leading into Hammerlocke stadium with a scowl on his face, and no Challenger Band to speak of. Surely enough time had passed for Chairman Rose to think about his decision to revoke his participation in the Gym Challenge, and it was only a matter a time before he came back to him, apologizing for his rash decision and giving him the chance to finish what he started. 

Bede was growing impatient, though, so he was going to storm into the underground power plant to demand he rejoin the Gym Challenge.. 

“Bede?”

Oh, _great_. The peanut gallery was back. 

Bede clicked his tongue irritably and turned around to see Gloria by herself. Noticing that Hop was absent, he couldn’t help but put on a smug smirk. Any level of shame he felt from his current position, vanished upon recognizing how his words might have whittled out weaker Challengers.

The less competition, the better. 

“Hmph. Come to gawk at me, have you? Shouldn’t you be looking for your friend? Or did he already drop out of the Gym Challenge?”

Gloria rarely got mad, but hearing that made her eyebrows furrow angrily. “Look, I’m not here to look down on you because you got disqualified. Unlike you, I’m a good sport.”

“Pft, being a good sport won’t get you anywhere. If you have a goal, the easiest way to get there is to crush everyone in your way. You won’t get anywhere from just being nice.”

“Says who? You’re not exactly trying to be nice so what would you know?”

“I’m nice to people who deserve it. If you or Hop can’t handle the truth, you’re not fit to be trainers.”

Bede was really starting to grate on Gloria’s patience. The more he talked, the harder she clenched her fists to the point where she felt her nails digging into her palms. Who was he to decide what was required to be a Pokemon trainer? To her, loving Pokemon and battling was a good enough reason as any to be one in the first place.

His narrow-minded view was insufferable. 

“TIme for my gym mission, child!” Opal suddenly came running up to Bede, dropping her umbrella in the process, and inspected him like a prized object. He froze in place, not knowing how to properly react to the elderly Gym Leader getting up close and personal in his space. 

And it was absolutely lost on him as to why she was chanting ‘pink’ like some sort of incantation.

“Congratulations, child!”

“M-Ms. Opal? What in the world has gotten into you?!” Bede squawked. 

“You were used by Oleana - am I right? You worked hard to gather Wishing Stars for her, only to have her throw you away like rubbish once she was done with you…”

Bede felt a stab to his pride. That was a blunt way of putting it, but she wasn’t wrong. It certainly did feel like he was used and tossed aside once he was seen as an inconvenience. He scoured far and wide to do what he was told, and this was what he got in return? 

“Come with me, child. I might be able to help you out. Of course, it all depends on how much work you’re willing to put in, too.” Opal proposed in a tone that sounded like she was lightly taunting him. 

He wasn’t going to let that slide.

“Are you… Are you testing me?” Bede huffed. “Very well, I accept! In fact, I plan on making sure you see my full talents and tell me everything you know about the Wishing Stars!” His current plans would be put on hold for now, seeing as how the Fairy-type Gym Leader had a much more interesting proposition in store for him. 

“I will tell you what I know but only after you’ve worked for it, child.” Opal turned to Gloria and gave her a crooked smile.

“Thank you, dearie, for escorting me to Hammerlocke. Head down Route 7 and you’ll eventually get to Circhester. Make sure to dress warmly.” The elderly Gym Leader tilted her head down in a courtesy nod before shuffling away to take care of her errands. Bede shot Gloria a cold glare before following the old lady down towards the shopping district. 

Gloria stuck out her tongue as Bede walked away before heading to the Pokemon Centre to efficiently prepare for the journey to the colder part of the region. 

* * *

“So, what did you want to talk about, Leon? I don’t remember the last time we’ve hung out like this before.” Sonia hummed. Thinking about it now, it was a little disappointing how busy their lives were that she couldn’t even recall their last normal conversation as friends. 

Leon felt a little awkward about it too, taking a bit too long to muster a response to what she thought was a basic question. She wasn’t really expecting much from him based on how most of his interactions involved asking about Pokemon. 

Part of her wished he would ask more about _her._

“I actually wanted to apologize.” Leon started.

Did...Did she hear that right? _Apologize?_ For _what?_

“Apologize?”

“Yeah. I know this is long overdue but, I talked to Hop recently that made me remember our time during our Gym Challenge when we were younger.” 

“OK…?” _Where was he going with that?_

“When you told me you were dropping out of the Gym Challenge, I didn’t realize how hard that decision must have been for you. You’re a hard worker, Sonia, and I should have been more supportive as your friend when you were struggling.”

Sonia blinked. She...wasn’t expecting such an honest confession from him at all. Dropping out of the Gym Challenge was a tough decision, and at the time, she didn’t want to hold him back from achieving greatness. Becoming a Champion was his calling and it genuinely made her happy to see him shine under the spotlight like it was meant for him. 

But...deep down, that didn’t erase the loneliness she felt from feeling left behind. And she missed those days of hanging out with him more frequently and being on an even playing field. Even though they were childhood friends, she felt a shift in their dynamic ever since he became Champion, so it was harder to see eye-to-eye with him. 

“I’d never imagine that you’d bring that up but, I’m glad that you did. And, I should apologize too. When you became Champion, it felt like you went to a place that I couldn’t reach. I’m working towards being a Pokemon Professor, and you’re the star of our region - we live in completely different worlds.” Sonia stared down at her latte with sad eyes. “But, even then, you’re still the same Leon I grew up with and I should have had more faith in you.”

“Me too. I may be a Champion, but I mean it when I say that I’m so proud of everything you’ve accomplished so far in your research. Professor Magnolia needs to give you more credit.” Leon responded with a smile.

Sonia giggled. “Thanks, Leon. Gran gives me a hard time but only because she knows I can push myself harder. I’m proud of you too. Everyone’s counting on you, but you can count on me too, OK?”

“Thanks, Sonia. We may live in different worlds, but you’ll always be my friend.”

“Hee hee, you’re awfully honest today.”

Leon bashfully scratched his cheek. “I know it’s a little weird coming from me, but I guess you could say I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting. I’ve had my head in the clouds for so long and I think it’s about time that I finally come back to earth.”

“And now you’re being philosophical? Who are you and what have you done to Leon?” Sonia teased. 

“Hey! I can sound smart and insightful too, you know.”

“I’m only kidding.” Sonia’s smile widened in glee. It felt like they could go back to the good ol’ days of just joking around with each other.

Their conversation was briefly interrupted by both of their Rotom phones buzzing at the same time, making them quizzically look at each other from the coincidental timing. They both reached for their respective phones and they both laughed at what was sent to them. 

**Juliet:** lol we found both of your quiz results 

from the fairy gym

 **Juliet:** [attached photo]

“Our results from the Fairy-type Gym? Now this takes me back.” Sonia laughed. “Not the sharpest tool in the shed, were you, Leon?”

Leon pouted. “Look, I beat the Gym, didn’t I? That’s all that matters.”

“Uh huh.” Sonia agreed sarcastically. “I do wonder who will take over Opal’s Gym. She’s not getting any younger after all.”

“Unless one of them got scouted?” Leon began typing back. 

**Leon:** I was a kid ok

 **Leon:** btw did anyone from your team get 

chosen to be Opal’s predecessor?

**Juliet:** She was interested in Mary and Tessu

but they didn’t wear enough pink lol

 **Juliet:** Opal thought Van and I were too clumsy

**Leon:** Can’t say I disagree

**Juliet:** HEY

 **Juliet:** but get this - by the end of the shoot, she

actually found someone to replace her and

guess who it is?

**Leon:** Who?

**Juliet:** It’s Bede

**Leon:** Seriously?! The same Bede that 

picked on Hop?!

**Juliet:** I like how that’s the first thing that comes

To mind over the fact that he destroyed the 

mural in stow-on-side

 **Juliet:** But yeah that Bede lol

**Leon:** Huh…

“You won’t believe this, Sonia. But, it looks like Be-”

**_BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM_ **

The ground shook violently, making the lights of the cafe flicker and swing back and forth, and cups came crashing down from their shelves, shattering upon hitting the ground. Sonia and Leon both balanced themselves using their table until the tremors subsided.

“Are you OK, Sonia?!” Leon asked worryingly. 

“I’m OK. But, what was that?! The whole city shook!”

“It felt too short to be an earthquake. I’m going to head out and see.” Leon tossed his cape back over his shoulders and put on his signature snap back on. Sonia grabbed her own things as well and looked at her Rotom phone in shock.

“Let me come with you! I’m getting crazy Dynamax readings!”

They sprinted out of the Battle Cafe and towards Hammerlocke Stadium where the underground Power Plant was located, when they came across Gloria rubbing her hip painfully as she tried to pick herself up from the ground. 

“Gloria! Are you OK?!” Leon rushed over and carefully pulled herself up. 

“I-I think so. What happened?” Gloria grimaced. 

“I think the Chairman is testing stuff again. Don’t worry, we’re going to check it out.”

“OK! Be careful, Sonia, Leon!”

* * *

“I wasn’t expecting Opal to introduce Bede as her successor like that…” Tessu mused as she shifted through the catalogue of every past challengers’ results for the Fairy Gym audition with the others looking over her shoulder. 

“But, don’t you think it’s kind of refreshing and fitting for him? Even though he’s cocky, his battle style is refined and elegant.” Mary added. 

“Sounds like a snobby aristocrat to me.” Vanquil snorted.

“Excuse me!” Teresa, one of the trainers for the Fairy Gym, called over with Opal’s umbrella hanging from her arm. “Do you think one of you can return this to Opal? She should be in her office. We would do it but we’re in the middle of getting her new successor settled into our Gym.”

“I’ll go. I should apologize for accidentally knocking over one of the studio lights when I tried to do Gordie’s back flip…” Juliet laughed nervously. Grace wasn’t her strong suit, but she thought she could make it up with her flexibility, but she ended up flipping herself off of the stage when trying to strike a pose to make her stand out from her other friends. 

Unfortunately, she stood out for all the wrong reasons. It was a miracle she didn’t break anything. 

Oh well, if people got a kick out of her antics, it was way better than viewers being bored. 

Retrieving the umbrella from Teresa, Juliet walked out of the set and through the various hallways of the stadium until she stood right outside of a door that had the tell-tale Fairy Gym symbol plastered on the door. She gently knocked on the door, and heard a soft “Yes?” from the other side of the door. 

“Sorry to bother you, Miss Opal! But, you left your umbrella back at the shoot and one of your trainers asked me to give it back to you.”

The door opens, revealing the now retired Gym Leader without her signature hat and fur scarf. “Ah, thank you, dearie. Would you like to come in? I might need some help with packing away some of my belongings.”

“Packing? Why?” Juliet asked, entering the elderly woman’s office and hanging the umbrella up on a coat hook that Opal is gesturing to. 

“Well, I’m no longer the Gym Leader of Ballonlea so I must make room for when this office becomes Bede’s.”

“Huh…” Juliet wasn’t completely satisfied with the answer, considering once glance around the room felt like looking into a time capsule of Opal’s life as a Gym Leader. Framed photos covered the walls, and many trophies lined the shelves - a clear indication of her pride and accomplishments. It felt bittersweet knowing that the walls would be stripped bare of them, leaving them feeling empty and eventually being covered up by Bede’s belongings. Even as she watched Opal pack away framed photos that had lined her desk, she would linger over each photo with a sense of longing before reluctantly putting the photo into the box with the others.

“What’s with that sorrowful expression, my dear?”

Perceptive. She wasn’t called ‘The Wizard’ for nothing. 

“Oh! Sorry. It’s just…” Juliet bit her lip. “You seem a little sad packing away your belongings. You’ve done so much during your reign as Galar’s Fairy Gym Leader based on all these photos and trophies. It’s like...I’m in a museum of your life, Miss Opal. And, I can’t help but feel sad at the thought of it not being like this anymore.”

“Lift your head up, child. There’s no need to be sad for me. This is the consequence of old age, I’m afraid.” Opal then smiled gently. “But, even so, even when these walls are covered by other trainers for generations to come, my pride as a Fairy Gym Leader will always live on in these photos.”

“Always live on, huh…”

“Yes. It’s the same with people. As long as someone thinks of you and remembers you, you’ll always have a place to belong. If not physically, then spiritually.”

“That’s…” Juliet’s smile widens as her heart grows warm from the gentle reassurance. It was nice hearing advice that she would normally give to other people, directed at her instead especially from someone with a plethora of experience and wisdom as Opal. No doubt she has gone through her fair share of highs and lows, but she always carried her heart through it all. 

It was nothing short of _inspiring._

“That’s very inspiring and encouraging, Miss Opal.”

“I’m happy to hear that. You know...I’ve always sensed some sort of unbridled potential in you, but it’s like you’re being held back by something.” Opal approached Juliet and leaned her head down to look her straight in the eye, only for the trainer to dart her eyes to the side out of reflex. 

“As I expected. When one doesn’t want to look at someone in the eyes, it’s because they don’t want the other person to see who they really are.”

“O-Or it could just be that I don’t like being stared at…” Juliet replied with a wry grin. 

“But, the root of that discomfort comes from not wanting to be read, is it not?”

Her shoulders tensed up. “Well…”

Opal’s eyes narrowed further. “In many ways, you remind me of young Bede. Sincere and straightforward but, not twisted and misguided as he is. That child carries arrogance that’s borderline _egotistical_ , while you carry a humbleness that’s borderline _self-deprecating_. Why is that?”

Wow. Talk about kicking someone when they were already down. But, there was a lot of truth behind Opal’s blunt observations that made Juliet feel _uncomfortably_ exposed. Of course, she knew exactly why considering her background, but she wasn’t in the mood to open that can of worms again and feel like she was constantly seeking out comfort. 

It always felt like she was pulling a ‘Oh woe was me!’ whenever she talked about it. 

Just as she opened her mouth to respond, the room was plunged into darkness, inciting screams of surprise and shouts from the workers of the Gym, which could be heard from inside the office. Juliet reached into her pocket and turned on the flashlight from her Rotom phone and held it in front of Opal. “Are you OK, Miss Opal?!”

“Yes. I’m fine, my dear. But, I do wonder what happened…”

* * *

Smoke billowed out of Hammerlocke Stadium, making Leon call out his Charizard to blow the smoke away using his wings. When the smoke cleared up, Oleana and Chairman Rose both walked out while coughing into their sleeves. Their clothes were disheveled and there were even charred patches littered all over like they got shocked or burned from something. It was concerning that they could even stand and dust off the smoke like it was nothing. 

“Oleana! Chairman Rose! You’re not hurt, are you?” Leon asked worryingly.

“Oh, Leon. And Professor Magnolia’s granddaughter as well. Don’t be alarmed, everything is under control.” Chairman Rose reassured casually, removing his tattered grey blazer with a grimace from the damage that had been done. 

“Is it, though?! Pokemon might start Dynamaxing in the middle of the city with all this energy!” Sonia warned alarmingly. 

“Well, that shouldn’t be a problem for Leon here, hm?” 

“It’s not, but what are you testing exactly? Someone could have gotten seriously hurt from that explosion.” Leon accused him. He rarely raised his voice against the Chairman, but it was always a cause for concern to him when people’s safety was at risk. 

“Everything we’re doing is for the future of this region, which I will unveil the details to you later on. For now, please tend to your duties as Champion and check on the citizens of Hammerlocke.” Chairman Rose ordered before turning back towards the lift leading down to the Power Plant with Oleana following obediently behind him.

Sonia huffed and put her hands on her hips. “For the future of the region? What is he going on about and can’t he try to accomplish that with _less_ explosions?”

Leon sighed heavily and shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine, Sonia. I wish he would just tell me what he’s doing already.”

“I sincerely hope the Chairman knows what he’s doing…” Sonia looked back at her Rotom phone, noticing that the Dynamax power levels were steadily going down. Still, it couldn’t hurt to look around just in case. “Let me come with you to check on everyone. The levels are going down but I’m not taking any chances.”

“I appreciate it. Let’s go.”


	13. The Price of Fame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fashion magazine that Leon and Juliet modeled in finally released and now they have to deal with the sudden onslaught of excited fans who are curious about their relationship. Not only that, but Raid Prism's popularity in general has skyrocketed thanks to Juliet's participation and the rest of her friends end up being dragged into spotlight as well.

**Chapter 9 - The Price of Fame**

****

* * *

_“Are you there, Darkrai?”_

**_“Yes. I am. Why have you summoned me?”_ **

_Ever since Darkrai revealed itself to her, she slowly began to have more control of her dreams and surroundings, unlike the perpetual darkness that Darkrai often chose to conjure up during their talks. Thinking about it now, she could hardly call their meetings ‘dreams’ at all._

_But it wasn’t unwanted._

_Sitting in the field of silver grass, underneath a crescent moon that shone over the ocean that stretched over the horizon, she turned to the Mythical Pokemon that floated right next to her. Before, it would keep its distance, as if afraid of her presence, but eventually approached closer with caution._

_“No reason. It’s hard to dream when you’re here, but I don’t mind.”_

**_“...My powers can be unpredictable so I apologize if you experience a nightmare because of me.”_ **

_“You’re apologizing now? I thought you purposely gave me nightmares because you wanted to get to know me?”_

**_“That’s correct, but the more I looked into your memories, the more I’m reminded...of my own sins.”_ **

_“Oh? What happened?”_

_“I believe I mentioned before that there are some things that you can’t unsee and I don’t wish for you to shoulder that burden.” Darkrai answered, turning in the opposite direction._

_“But, talking about it might help, you know? Listening is what friends do.”_

**_“...Friends?”_ **

_“Oh boy, are you going to start going on about how you don’t know what friendship is?”_

**_“...I’m not...unfamiliar to the concept. How does one know if friendship has been obtained?”_ **

_“Obtained? You make it sound like it’s a tangible thing! You just...know.” Juliet placed a hand over her heart. “If you trust the person, if you can confide in them, if they can open themselves up to you without worrying about being judged; that’s when you know.”_

**_“In that case, I don’t think we’re there yet.”_ **

_“That’s fine! You shouldn’t rush with these kinds of things. You don’t have to reveal anything if you’re not ready.”_

**_“...If you’re that eager to learn about me, then I will show you the truth about me in our next meeting.”_ **

_“Really? That’s good to hear! Thank you for trusting me.”_

**_“Hm. You’re a strange one to want to see my wrong doings.”_ **

_“Well, I believe that if someone feels remorseful for the things they’ve done, then they deserve another chance.”_

**_“...Even if it involved a human life?”_ **

_A human life…? Was Darkrai serious? But, even as she observed his eyes, she didn’t feel any malice. She felt...sorrow and regret. Whatever he meant by that, she would have to hear about the case before making any sort of judgement._

_“...In that case, I think it depends on the circumstance.”_

**_“I see. Then, I will let you be the judge of that. It’s time for you to wake.”_ **

_“OK. Whatever happened, Darkrai, I will listen. See you later!”_

* * *

Rather than being woken up by the blaring alarm of her phone, the constant rumbling that came from notifications stirred her awake. Juliet, somehow, drowsily put her phone on silent, so no sounds or vibrations could bother her further. It didn’t strike her as odd as to why she was getting an influx of notifications, but it was a matter she would check after a day of work at the Battle Cafe. 

After going through her usual morning routine, she hopped onto her Rotom bike and cycled down the usual route she took when commuting to work. She felt a self of deja vu from how often she went through the same schedule before the Gym Challenge broke that routine. The familiarity was comforting, and she hadn’t realized how much she really missed her job at the cafe. How were her regular customers doing? She hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to them in awhile, but she hoped that they were doing well and hadn’t forgotten about her.

Though...was she imagining things or were there more people turning their heads to her as she cycled by? That wouldn’t be that surprising since her team’s presence in the Gym Challenge made their faces more recognizable, but something felt...off. 

Like she was forgetting something. 

As if she didn’t forget so much already.

When she reached the Battle Cafe and proceeded to sneak into the back, a small crowd of people approached her while holding what looked like magazines in their hands. She looked at them with an owlish look and tilted her head.

“Ummm...Can I help you all with something?”

“Y-You’re Juliet right?” One girl asked.

“Yeah…?” Juliet regretted answering that because the girls within the group started squealing at a frequency that she swore could shatter glass. Then, she was surrounded by fans who were shoving magazines and their phones in her face.

_What in the world was happening?_

“Can you take a selfie with me?!

“Can I have your autograph?!

“You’re sooooo pretty in this magazine!”

Wait, _what_ magazine?

“Hang on, mind if I borrow that for a second?” Juliet grabbed one of the countless magazines that were flailing in her face and flipped through the pages. 

Oh, duh! How did she forget about the modelling gig she did with Leon a few weeks ago?

Though, that didn’t exactly explain how her presence in it could spawn a turn out like _this._

“Do you know Leon?! Can you give me his number?”

_Yes and absolutely not._

“You’re soooooo lucky that you get to work with him! Is he just as handsome in person?”

_Uhhh...I guess?_

“Are you and Leon dating?! You two look good together!”

OK, _that’s_ where she drew a line and she knew better than to fall into that trap. 

“Everyone! Please! I have to get to work!!! I promise to sign your magazines and take selfies once I’m done!” Juliet tried to shout over their incessant demands.

No luck.

“I’ve got you, big sis!” Someone grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the crowd and into the back of the Battle Cafe. Juliet wheezed in exhaustion, overwhelmed from being in such a stressful situation involving rabid fans. She turned her head to her savior, eyes widening in recognition. 

“Courtney?! What are _you_ doing here?!”

“Is that any way to thank the one who saved your butt?!” Courtney pouted before smiling cheerfully and hugging her cousin tightly. “It’s good to see you too, big sis!”

“I-I’m happy to see you too, but you didn’t answer my question.”

“Well, I’m taking a break from Pokemon Contests for a bit and decided to come to Galar in search for some inspiration! But, you should have seen my face when I saw your face alongside baseball guy’s on this magazine!” Courtney pulled out said magazine that displayed the shot of Leon wiping away the cream from her face on the inside of the _damn_ cover. Her cousin had a cat-like grin on her face as she giggled. 

“So, are you two getting cozy?”

“We’re _not!_ And why are you still calling him baseball guy?!”

“Because he throws his Pokemon out like a pitcher!”

“Mind keeping it down, kiddos?” Richard chuckled, entering the back room with two cups of tea. Finally remembering where she was, Juliet scrambled to get her apron and name tag, but her boss stopped her. 

“That might not be a good idea, kid.” He told her.

“Why?”

“Take a look.”

Juliet opened the back door just enough so she could peak through the crack and groaned at the sight of the crowd from before, inside of the Battle Cafe now, lined up in front of the counter. She slid down the wall until her butt met the tile floors and she pulled her knees up to her chest. “My life is over. I can’t do this.”

“You’re overreacting. This crowd is nothing compared to what I’ve experienced.” Courtney said. 

“That doesn’t help! It’s one thing to be just slightly well-known that everyday people don’t know who you are, but _this?!_ ”

“Relax, kiddo. Is it really so bad? You look great! Here, I’ll ward off your fans for you and let you know when it’s OK to come out.” Richard placed their cups of tea on the table and walked back out to the front to serve the people looking for her in hopes that they would eventually go away. 

Courtney pulled her cousin up from the ground and helped her in a chair before settling herself in a chair opposite from her. “In all seriousness, I think it’s great that you’ve broadened your horizons! I’d never expected you to get into modelling-”

“It was a one time gig because their female model couldn’t make it and I felt bad at the thought of the staff not getting paid! I haven’t modelled since and won’t.”

“Awwww...I guess it can’t be helped if you feel that way.” Courtney pulled up her phone and scrolled through the magazine publisher’s Chatoter account to read the comments about the magazine. She cheekily looked up from her phone to see Juliet anxiously sipping her tea with tense eyebrows.

“Want to hear about what people have been saying online?”

“Absolutely not. How did you even know I was working here today?”

“I overheard some people talking about how they hoped you’d be working today so they could catch a glimpse of you and I just casually asked your boss if you were gonna be in.” Courtney put her phone down to hold both of her cheeks playfully. “Has baseball guy texted you about it?”

“What makes you think I have his number?” 

“You’re also working for the Gym Challenge right? That must make you co-workers by association soooo….”

Ugh, her cousin was sharper than she gave her credit for. 

“...I haven’t checked my phone yet. It was blowing up this morning but I didn’t check why because I was gonna be late for work.”

“...Can I check it then?”

“ _Hell no._ ” Juliet swatted her cousin’s intrusive hands away and finally opened up her Rotom phone to check her notifications. A lot of texts, missed calls, and so many DMs from her Pokegram. She bit her lip in discomfort. This was escalating _way_ too quickly. 

Was it even normal for magazines to get this kind of traction? Did all models go through this? She was completely out of the loop and she mentally kicked herself for not being more careful or aware. 

Swiping through her notifications, she didn’t notice Courtney sneaking up from behind when she opened up the text conversation with Leon. 

**Leon:** Hey J

 **Leon:** Can we talk?

“That sounds like a break up text if I’ve ever seen one.” Courtney whistled. Juliet rolled her eyes and ignored her nosy cousin to text back. 

**Juliet:** Hey champ

 **Juliet:** I get off at 4 if you're free then

 **Juliet:** Where do you want to meet up?

Not even 10 seconds later passed when Leon started texting her back.

**Leon:** 4 is ok with me

 **Leon:** Maybe your place? I don’t

think it’s a good idea for me to go 

to my place right now

**Juliet:** Why?

**Leon:** There were a lot of people

crowded in front of my place when

I left

 **Leon:** They might still be there

**Juliet:** Speaking of which, is all of this

attention even normal???

**Leon:** It might be because of the

short interview 

Juliet grabbed her cousin’s copy of the magazine and turned to the pages near the very end. She didn’t recall saying anything that was worth making a big hubbub over, but maybe that was it - people were taking what they said _completely_ out of context. Lord, why did people have to make a big deal out of every little thing when it came to celebrities or people who were well-known? Weren’t there more pressing matters to worry about? Injustices?! World hunger?! She didn’t bother reading over her parts since she knew by heart of what she wrote and skimmed through Leon’s part of the interview.

  1. **What was it like modelling with Juliet? You guys know each other because of the Gym Challenge, correct?**



**Leon:** That’s right. She’s really fun to work with! Even though it was a one-time gig for her, I think she did a stellar job. 

Yada yada, that seemed like a pretty safe response. 

  1. **And what do you think is her charm point?**



Oh boy, _here we go._

 **Leon:** Her charm point, huh? I think it would have to be her smile. Her smiles are contagious and there’s something about them that makes you feel like everything is going to be OK. So, seeing her smile never fails to make my day even better and relieves most of my stresses.

“Courtney, quit your cooing.” Juliet grumbled as she slapped the magazine down on the table and picked up her Rotom phone. 

**Juliet:** LEON

**Leon:** I know, I know. I should 

have chosen my words more 

carefully

 **Leon:** But knowing them, they 

wouldn’t have been satisfied if 

I wasn’t just a bit more honest

**Juliet:** Honest huh

**Leon:** You don’t think I mean it?

“Big sis, I think you’re denser than a Probopass.”

“And, I think you’re reading too much into it.” Juliet retorted. Besides, it wasn’t the first time she had been complimented on her smile. Her aunt used to tell her that a lot, her team would sometimes tease her about how big her smile would get when she was excited for something - it was a physical trait that she was both flattered and embarrassed to have. 

Still...knowing that Leon appreciated her smiles made her chest feel pleasantly warm. She hadn’t seen him in awhile but she hadn’t realized how much she missed his company and his own smiles. 

His real smiles - not the one he shows off in public. 

The smiles he shows for his friends and loved ones.

“Get yourself a significant other who looks at you like how Leon looks at Juliet.” Courtney read out loud from her phone with the widest grin imaginable. 

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” Juliet grumbled to herself. 

“Alright, kiddo. Looks like the crowd is gone. That was a lot of customers though so I’m counting on you to do most of the cleaning.” Richard told her, sticking his head into the back room before going back to tend to the front. 

Juliet tied her apron around her waist and double-checked to make sure her name tag was on right. “Courtney, shouldn’t you be looking for your inspiration? I doubt you’ll find it here. Also, does your mom know you’re here?”

“Don’t worry! I just told her I’d be crashing at your place.” Courtney said innocently with a hopeful grin on her face. 

Juliet sighed. Of course she would spring this on her last minute. As insufferable as her cousin was at times, she was still a good kid with a bright future as a Pokemon Coordinator. “Come back here around 4 pm.”

“Great! Thanks, big sis! I have some souvenirs from my travels so I’ll make it worth your while!” And with that, her cousin grabbed her suitcase that she left in the corner and quietly snuck out from the back. 

Juliet took one quick glance at her phone to reply back to Leon.

**Juliet:** No, I believe you

 **Juliet:** Thanks

 **Juliet:** Your smiles give me strength too

* * *

“I didn’t know you had it in you, man. Nice.”

“It would have been better if I just said it to her face instead of a magazine for all to see.” Leon groaned, getting up from the bench press and chugging half of his water bottle. Raihan tossed him a towel, which he caught and wrapped it around his sweat-matted neck. 

“I’m sure she hears you loud and clear.” Raihan replied with a smirk, whistling for his Rotom phone to resume scrolling through the various gossip articles talking about the fashion magazine.

“I just wonder how it even got to this point. I’ve been doing this for years with other models and the releases of magazines usually just come and go. Was what I said really that newsworthy?”

“Well, think about it - everyone is always looking for something new to talk about right? Raid Prism started out as just four trainers from different regions who stream their Max Raid battles for shits and giggles. Now that their group is becoming more recognizable, of course people are going to start becoming interested in them personally. So, when you combine a hot topic with Galar’s King, that’s practically a _buffet_ for gossip especially if it’s coming out of a fashion magazine where you and Juliet are having fun and serving looks.”

“Ugh...But, I ended up dragging her into the media frenzy.” 

“You’re going to meet up with her later, yeah? Might as well tell her how you feel while you’re at it.” Raihan laughed as he barely dodged the half-full water bottle that was thrown at him in retaliation. His best friend was always a bit...touchy when it came to matters of the heart. 

“It’s not a good time. And besides,” Leon looked down at the screen of his Rotom phone with somber eyes. “I think she’s moved on from me.”

“And, you’re basing that off of what, exactly?”

“She...briefly mentioned it before how she’s been having trouble remembering things, but the fact that she can’t recall that time we spent together in detail - what if she doesn’t want to remember?”

Raihan sighed. “I don’t know her as well as you do, but all those times you’ve hung out since seeing each other again, has she ever acted like she didn’t care about you?”

“No. She’s...just as fun, playful, and compassionate as she was from back then.” Leon smiled gently. “She confided in me about some things she didn’t tell me when we first met and...my respect for her only grows and I just want to be there for her to cheer her on.”

Listening to his best friend practically gush about his adoration for his long lost crush was starting to grate on Raihan, but not in an overtly negative way. More out of _frustration_ over the fact that Leon was so hung up on keeping his feelings to himself in hopes that he could move on from them. 

But the longer he keeps them to himself, the more he _cherishes_ them.

“Bro, do you remember what you did when you came back from Hoenn?”

“Uhh...I continued my training?”

“Cut the crap, Leon. You came to me, Sonia, and Nessa for ideas on how to write a love letter to Juliet. A frickin’ _love_ letter! Whatever happened to that thing?”

“Oh! That.” Leon coughed and scratched the side of his cheek. “Apparently, she didn’t get it.”

“...Are you _fucking_ serious?”

“Look, if she said she didn’t get it, she didn’t get it!”

“Weren’t you like, heart-broken for a while when you didn’t get anything back?”

“...Why are you bringing this up, Rai?” Leon sighed, getting up from the bench press to use the treadmill next. He felt the strong urge to run longer than his usual regimen to get rid of the Butterfrees that were fluttering about in his stomach. 

“I’m bringing it up because it’s clearly stressing you out. You shouldn’t ignore what your heart wants, you know.” Raihan replied with his arms crossed. 

“Easier said than done when you’re a Champion.” Leon cranked up the treadmill to his usual speed and pushed earbuds into his ears, effectively ending the conversation. He didn’t hear what Raihan said, but based on his exasperated look, he must have given up on him. For now. 

There was a lot that his heart wanted, but his Champion duties came first. 

They _always_ had to come first. 

Not just because that was what was expected of him, but it wouldn’t be fair for any potential partner to put up with someone who had to put his duties before them. 

It was an unfair system.

And he didn’t want to put Juliet through that.

But…

That didn’t mean he couldn’t smile fondly at her last texts that told him that his smiles gave her strength. 

* * *

“Well, so much for talking in my flat.” Juliet groaned. Looking at the small crowd loitering outside of her flat, even her home wasn’t safe from the more curious fans and invasive fans. She made a good call though, of bringing Pistachio along in his Pokeball, or else he would have thrown a fit by all the commotion. 

“So, where to now?” Courtney asked. “Carrying my suitcase around is a little tiring.”

“I can carry it for you.” Leon offered kindly.

“Awww! Thank you, Leon! You’re such a gentleman.”

Juliet sent him a look that said, ‘Sorry for the trouble’ on behalf of her cousin, and he replied with a sheepish smile. They were in a bit of a bind as it was so helping each other was the only thing making the situation tolerable. She wandered deeper into the alley that they were hiding in, though not too deep to avoid the trash littered about and the Galarian Meowths that were scurrying among garbage cans and cardboard boxes. 

“What now? My place is out of the question too-”

“Jules?”

Juliet jumped from hearing her nickname and turned to see the rest of her Raid team also huddled around the corner of the alley. She gawked at them in surprise. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Maybe if you read our group chat, you’d know.” Tessu sighed.

“Sorry, my notifications were getting out of control that it was stressing me out.”

“Well, long story short, the fact that you mentioned our team in the magazine interview, our numbers have skyrocketed.” Vanquil explained, pulling up his Rotom phone to open their Pokegram page. Juliet’s eyes almost burst out of their sockets from shock. 

“We have over a million followers now?!”

“Yup. All of us got recognized at our workplaces and fans were clamoring for selfies and autographs.”

“Damn...I’m so sorry for dragging you guys into this.” Juliet frowned deeply. 

“Hey, we’re all in this together so it’s not so bad, is it?” Tessu assured. 

“Hey, big sis! Are these your friends?” Courtney piped in. 

“Yeah. Mary, Tessu, and Vanquil. This is my cousin, Courtney. She’s going to be staying with me for a bit. Well, if we can get into our flats that is.” Juliet grumbled.

“Hello! We could always stay at a hotel! I have the money from my wins.”

“Actually, I think I have an idea of where to go that I’m certain no one will find us in.” Leon interrupted. They all turned to him expectantly, making him pull out his Rotom phone to give someone a call. Whoever was on the other line took a few rings to pick up.

“Hey Piers? It’s Leon. I have a bit of a favor to ask.”

* * *

Walking through the dimly lit streets of Spikemuth, it was an understatement to say that the desolate town was _intimidating_. Even though there were many shops lit up with colourful neon lighting, giving the town a constant city nightlife feel, there weren’t many patrons to speak of. If they closed their eyes and only focused on the sounds, all they could hear were the subtle hum of the lights, with the occasional flickers, and the distant sound of dripping water. 

“So, this is Spikemuth…” Vanquil uttered.

“I don’t know what’s creepier - if this place was full of people or the fact that there’s hardly any people at all.” Tessu added.

Courtney, who hadn’t returned her Altaria back into her Pokemon, was still mounted on the cloudy dragon Pokemon out of discomfort towards their surroundings. Despite how dark the town was, Mary couldn’t help but find herself distracted by the fluffy dragon Pokemon and tentatively reached out to pet her folded wings. And hearing the young teen whimpering made her sympathize with her fear of the dark. 

“Your Altaria is really cute.” Mary said. Courtney perked up and looked over to Mary with a small, shaky grin. 

“Isn’t she? Big sis caught her for me when she was a Swablu and before she went on a journey to the other regions.” The Pokemon Coordinated wrapped her arms around her Altaria’s neck, making her keen affectionately. 

“That must mean your Altaria is your ace? Or, I guess partner Pokemon.”

“Yeah! She’s great at performing. I’ll show you guys what she can do one day!” 

Courtney’s cheer carried a comforting air to their group, making the long trek through the town a bit more enjoyable. The town eventually opened up to a wide open space with a makeshift stage set up on the opposite end with various equipment propped up against the wall. A few members of Team Yell didn’t take much interest in their presence, as their leader stepped away from the stage to greet them with a lazy grin. 

“It’s about time you lot showed up. My members didn’t cause you any trouble, yeah?”

“No, they didn’t. Thanks again for letting us hide here for now.” Leon thanked.

“It’s fine, Champ.” Piers looked over the group with interest. “So, you’re the ones who will be backin’ me up durin’ one of my numbers.”

“...Wait, what? Back you up?” Tessu repeated with a blink.

“Didn’t you hear? To get challengers revved up for when they come to battle me and then Raihan, the League approached me about puttin’ on a special show with you lot as my band.”

“Uhhhh, well I don’t know how to play an instrument. Do you guys?” Vanquil asked, turning to his friends.

“Do rhythm games count?” Juliet wondered sheepishly. 

“I don’t think that’s how that works.”

“Then, no. Mary knows how to play violin, though so maybe you can learn the electric violin?”

“A-An electric violin?! That’s a bit-” Mary sputtered. 

“Relax. You’ll only need to learn how to play one song, which is goin’ to be the closing number for the night. We can talk more about it inside. My place isn’t much but, make yourself at home, I guess.” Piers led them through a door behind the stage, which led to a few flights of stairs before he used a key to enter the studio apartment that he shared with his younger sister Marnie. 

It looked a lot nicer and modern than what initial appearances would suggest from the outside. It had the essentials from a comfortable living room, decently sized kitchen, two bedrooms, and a spare room that had a sign that said “DO NOT ENTER”. Marnie, who was watching TV with her Morpeko on her lap, turned to the opening front door and waved to her brother. 

“Hello brother. You didn’t tell me you were bringin’ people over.”

“Sorry, sis. They’re bein’ hounded by the public and need a place to hide for a little while. This is my little sister, Marnie.”

“Oh, we know. We’ve said hi to her a few times after her battles. How’s your progress, Marnie?” Mary asked.

“It’s goin’ well. I’ll be headin’ to Circhester in the next few days to take on the Rock and Ice gym.”

“Good luck! We’re scheduled to head there tomorrow, but make sure to bundle up.” Tessu said, shivering involuntary from just thinking about the snowy wonderland that was the route leading up to Circhester. 

Piers went to the kitchen to prepare some tea and other refreshments while the others lounged around the studio apartment. Juliet wandered over to the ‘DO NOT ENTER’ door and had to resist the urge to peek into it to see what was in the room that warranted such a demanding sign. “Say Piers, what secrets are you hiding in there?”

“It’s just a makeshift studio. The sign is to keep anyone from comin’ in while I’m writing songs or recordin’. I have a proper studio next door but sometimes I’ll get ideas for new songs out of the blue.”

“Ohhhh...Does that mean you’re part of a label or agency?”

“Naw. I’m independent.”

“An indie artist, huh…We hear your name pretty often when it comes to music. Do you ever have to deal with...fervent fans?” Vanquil asked. Piers walked over with a trayful of cups of tea and handed each of them one before plopping himself down on the couch. Marnie beckoned Courtney to her room, as to not disturb the others from the matters they had to attend to. 

“It was more tirin’ to deal with early on, but I don’t leave Spikemuth very often so fans don’t really make an effort to come out here unless I’m puttin’ on a show.” Piers looked out the window to gaze at the quiet dilapidated town. “But, the amount of people who do show up, is how Spikemuth used to be every day.”

“Really? How come people aren’t coming as often anymore?” Tessu questioned. Piers breathed deeply, eyes closing from guilt. 

“Spikemuth doesn’t have a Power Spot, so you can’t Dynamax here. Since Dynamax battles are a big deal for the region, not many folks come here as a result since it doesn’t get promoted much.”

The truth behind Spikemuth’s current state made them frown. Now they had a better idea as to why Piers didn’t show up to the Opening Ceremonies. Perhaps he felt responsible for what his town had become and feels partly ashamed to show his face to the thousands of people watching. 

“Being a singer has helped bring in people, but it’s hard to balance it while bein’ a Gym Leader. Don’t tell my sister this, but I’m thinkin’ of passin’ down the Gym Leader title to her after this year’s Gym Challenge.” The punk musician admitted. Leon seemed particularly surprised by that and stared at him in disbelief.

“Are you sure that’s what you want, Piers?” 

“Yeah, I want to bring Spikemuth back where it used to be, but I don’t think I can do it alone as a Gym Leader. Pick your jaw up from the ground, I ain’t goin’ anywhere.” 

Leon’s shoulders slacked. “I understand. The League won’t be the same without you.”

“Hey, my sister is pretty damn tough! She’ll surpass me in no time.”

“Haha, I don’t doubt that. In that case, make sure to give the Challengers a battle to remember!”

“You don’t need to tell me twice.” Piers chuckled lightly. He then turned to the Raid team. “Now, back to what we were talkin’ about before, I don’t know all the details but you’ll need to split up electric guitar, electric bass, keyboard, and drums among your group.”

“Wait, wait, wait, before that, how much time are we even getting to learning and practicing?” Mary asked worryingly. “I play violin as a hobby but it takes me about a week to learn a song. Wouldn’t it take longer as a band?”

“You’re sharp. I trust that you’ll lead the other three on what to do.”

“M-M-Me?!”

“Please show us the way, teacher!” Vanquil bowed his head to Mary while holding his hands out into a prayer position. Juliet comfortably leaned into the couch while crossing her leg over the other. 

“Finally I don’t have to be the leader for once even though I don’t really do much.”

“B-But, I don’t have your assertiveness, Jules!” Mary stuttered. 

“I don’t expect you lot to decide now but, the sooner, the better so you can start studyin’ up on how to read music. I’ve already started writin’ the song and it should be finished by the time you do your jobs in Circhester.” Piers got up from his seat to grab some album CDs from a shelf. He handed each of them a CD, all of them depicting different album art designs of Piers. 

“Feel free to listen to my songs to get a better idea of the vibe. Music ain’t just about playin’ the right notes - it’s also about feeling.”

“...Wow, we haven’t even decided who’s going to play what and I already feel like I’m in a band.” Vanquil commented, looking down at the CD with excited eyes. 

“That’s not a bad attitude to have. Since you’re all here, why not check out some of the shops that are here? We have things from fashion, food, and our town is a hot spot if you want to get piercings or tattoos.”

Juliet immediately tensed up at the mention of piercings and tattoos. “I-I’ll pass on the last two. Needles and sharp objects make me uncomfortable.” Suddenly feeling subconscious, she brought her arms up to her chest, shuddering at the thought needles poking at her skin. 

“Tats and piercings aren’t for everyone but the offer is there if anyone is interested. Let’s head out - it’s startin’ to feel cramped in here.”

* * *

They spent the next few hours exploring the town more thoroughly, going from shop to shop to observe the items and clothing that were unique to Spikemuth. Most of them involved spikes, chains, and the like - all of which were a bit too intimidating for Juliet’s tastes. Not to mention there wasn’t much colour variety that wasn’t black or overly dark colours. 

“Not gonna edge up your wardrobe, Lee?”

“I’m good. I appreciate Spikemuth’s aesthetics but I don’t think the style suits me.” Leon laughed while handing her a can of soda. 

“Oh, I don’t know. I think you could rock a leather jacket if you tried.”

“I guess I could give it a try, but when would I ever wear it?”

“To parties maybe? Just imagine, you drive up to a party on a motorcycle, you take off your helmet, you put on some shades and bam. Everyone turns their heads and goes ‘whoa, is that Leon?’”

“Pfft, ahaha! Where do you get ideas like that?”

“From dramas and anime.” Juliet answered with a snicker. “But seriously, I think it’d be a good look for you. Different, but good. Maybe get a piercing while you’re at it.”

“Oof, that would give journalists a field day for sure. We should lay low for now.”

“Good call. Seeing as though you thought right away to come here, this isn’t the first time something like this happened.” Juliet begrudgingly pulled out her Rotom phone, hesitantly turning it on to take a quick gander at what exactly people were saying about her, fully bracing herself for negativity. Leon leaned over her shoulder to take a glance as well before shooting her a look of concern. Remembering how her fall as a Champion stemmed from the bitter and hostile things people said about her, what reason was there for her to go through it all again?

She gave him a reassuring smile. “Relax, champ. I’d like to think I’ve grown thicker skin since then. If anything, I’m more worried about if anyone is bad mouthing the others.” Juliet raised her head to see her friends and cousin playing with their respective teams of Pokemon with Piers and Marnie. 

Deep down, she was willing to take the brunt of hate if it meant that her friends could be safe from it. Something that she learned from her experiences is that, sometimes the only way to understand people was to see the ugly sides of them. It was never easy, and it wasn’t supposed to be, but every unsavoury comment came from a place of insecurity. 

People weren’t born to be mean, cruel, or disrespectful. At least, that’s what she’d like to think.

It felt... odd to see so many people commenting on her looks, either calling her pretty or even attractive. Their Pokegram page was specifically for Raids, and the following that they did have before what transpired, no one really mentioned anything about their looks. It was all so out of place, really. 

She thought back to what the make-artist, Caroline, told her:

_“Journalists and writers will eat anything up, even if it means twisting stories just to earn their paycheck.”_

It was the same for fans. The lives they were living were part of the entertainment, and they wanted to be a part of it. 

So, even though she opened herself up to the occasional comments that labelled her as an attention-seeker, cash cow, or someone who was just mooching off of Leon’s success, they wanted their comments to rile her up so they could be part of her narrative. 

Despite clutching her Rotom phone a bit tighter than before, she was going to grit her teeth and bare it. 

That is, until Leon snatched her phone out of her hand.

“Hey!”

“Don’t you think that’s enough, J?” Leon wondered accusingly. “Look, I get that you’re curious, but sometimes you have to tell yourself ‘enough is enough’ before you let what people say get to your head.”

Juliet blinked, finally realizing that even though she was going through the comments with good intentions for self-reflection, she was playing right into their hands. She bit her lip shamefully and lowered her head. “Crap, you’re right. That was stupid of me.”

“I admire that you just want to learn and understand people, even if they hurt you, but you have to stop and think about your feelings. When I first became Champion, I also obsessed over what people said about me. And those few hateful comments I got? I also wanted to know why they felt that way. But, sometimes it’s just not worth putting yourself through that.” Leon informed her sternly. 

His tone was strict, a side of Leon she hadn’t seen before from him but she obediently listened, letting every word sink. Seeing her meekly nod at his light scolding, he relented knowing she was taking his words to heart. 

“First few comments are fine, but promise me you’ll stop reading the comments?” He asked, holding up her Rotom phone in front of her face. 

Juliet nodded. “I promise.”

“Good.” He said before handing her phone back. Upon receiving it, Juliet immediately closed both Pokegram, Chatoter, and some of the tabs in the web browser. She let out a relieved sigh. It really did feel good to look away for once. She didn’t really understand why, but she couldn’t help but start giggling. Leon looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“What’s so funny?

“N-Nothing, it’s just…” She grinned. “This is going to sound weird but thanks for...putting me in my place, I guess. Sometimes I get lost in my own head and need someone to pull me out of it.”

Leon cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re welcome. I wasn’t too harsh, was I?”

“Not at all, Lee.” Juliet suddenly jumped, feeling something crawl into her hood and into her pocket. The Dreepy in her pocket peeked its head out, making her reach down to scratch under its chin. 

“Sorry, did you want some attention?” She cooed to the Dreepy. It nudged her finger before trailing up her arm and nuzzling her cheek. “Affectionate lil’ guys, aren’t you?”

“I think they’ve missed you.” Leon chuckled, watching her Flygon approach him and ducking down, allowing him to cradle her head. 

“You think so?” Juliet eyed his Dragapult carefully, watching it lowering to her level and sticking his head out towards her hands. Something familiar stirred within her, as she caressed the large ghost dragon’s head with delicate strokes. Even if she didn’t remember the first encounter with his Pokemon, her heart remembered. 

“No matter how tough things get, our Pokemon will always be there for us, huh?” 

“Yeah. The bonds we have with our Pokemon are unbreakable.” Leon agreed. 

Their tender moment was humorously interrupted by a bouncing ball that rolled by Leon’s feet. But it wasn’t just any toy ball. As he reached down to pick it up, he retracted his hands upon seeing his face plastered on said ball. 

“Why is there a ball with _my face_ on it?!”

“Oh, we completed the Curry Dex and, uhhh, that’s the grand prize for completing it.”

“Grand prize?!” Leon watched in disbelief as her Sylveon casually picked up the ball with her ribbon feelers and tossed the ball back to the other Pokemon. Seeing the Pokemon throw and bounce, what looked like his head, around made his face twist in an uncomfortable grimace. 

“I’m guessing you didn’t authorize it, huh?” Juliet stifled a laugh into her hand. “That’s the price you pay for being so popular, I guess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a really fun chapter to write and it was my first crack at writing for Piers which was both easy in terms of understanding his laxness, but his speech was a completely different story so I had to read over his in-game script a few times to get a better understanding of how to write him. 
> 
> I didn't have time to draw a character reference for Courtney like I wanted to add at the end of the chapter, but keep an eye out for it on my Twitter (@PigeonSenpai)!
> 
> Once again, thank you so much for reading this chapter and please leave a kudos and or comment if you'd like!


	14. Tip of the Iceberg

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions rise as Melony and Gordie refuse to cooperate for their shoot on their gym due to their conflicting views and mindsets. But, assuming the other person won't understand is not the same as actually confronting them about it, so Raid Prism try to understand why there is so much bad blood between the two Gym Leaders.

**Chapter 10 - Tip of the Iceberg**

* * *

  
  


_This...This wasn’t her dream. But, for some reason, there was something about the house that felt familiar in her gut. It wasn’t so much the decor or out-dated furnishings - there was something about the air that was welcoming and recognizable..._

_That feeling you get when you walk into a place that you call ‘home’._

_“Where am I?”_

**_“You’re in a nightmare from my past.”_ **

_Juliet whipped her head around, recognizing Darkrai’s voice but not unable to see the Mythical Pokemon anywhere. A Pokemon of nightmares, could have nightmares too? She thought Darkrai thrived off of nightmares. The irony was making her mind spin uncontrollably._

**_“I advise you not to think too deeply on the matter. There are moments in my life that haunt me as well, but none haunt me as much as this one.”_ **

_So, this was what it was like to experience someone else’s nightmare from the eyes of an outsider looking in. Juliet didn’t have much of a lead as to where to go, seeing as though the dimly lit house looked very ordinary. Well, mostly ordinary. There were many things about the house that told her that this nightmare took place many, many years ago._

_It was like she was transported back to the olden days, where there was no electricity to speak of and all the furniture and interior design were Victorian in nature._

_Suddenly, she heard muffled giggling coming from the second floor of the house. A feeling of dread settling in her core, feeling like she was part of a paranormal horror movie and she was the dumb protagonist who was going to investigate on her own-_

**_“Don’t be foolish. This nightmare won’t affect you, so there’s no need to express caution.”_ **

_“Won’t stop me from being a little scared anyway.” Juliet muttered. Climbing up the creaky wooden staircase, she followed the laughter to a door where the laughing was the loudest. Was there any point in knocking? Probably not, seeing as though this nightmare was a specter for an event that already happened._

**_“Good, you’re catching on.”_ **

_Juliet rolled her eyes at the condescending compliment, before slowly turning the door knob to reveal a children’s bedroom._

_There she saw a little girl, with medium length black hair and wearing a light blue nightgown, playing with Darkrai._

_“Come on, Darkrai! Let’s play hide and seek again. I want to find you this time!”_

**_“It’s getting rather late. Shouldn’t you go to bed?”_ **

_The little girl pouted. “But, I’m not tired! Come on, pretty please? Just one more time!”_

**_“Sigh...Very well. Begin counting.”_ **

_Suddenly, the scene shifted from the happy scene of a little girl playing with a Mythical Pokemon, to a shocking scene of the girl lying in bed, convulsing from what Juliet could assume was a terrible nightmare. The girl thrashed about in bed, her face slicked with sweat, while her parents looked on with tearful eyes as a group of doctors worked together to restrain the little girl._

_“Cursed Darkrai! Release our daughter at once!” The father cried._

_“Please!! You have to help her!” The mother wailed._

_“I’m afraid the only way to wake your daughter is with a Lunar Wing from the Mythical Pokemon, Cresselia.” One of the doctors explained hopelessly. The father and mother got down on their knees, crying out that they’ll hand over every penny they have if it meant that they could save their daughter._

_But, they had no idea of where to look, or if the legends of Cresselia were even true._

_There was nothing they could do._

_The scene shifted again. This time, of the little girl lying lifeless in her bed. Hearing the wails and cries from her parents, cut something deep inside of Juliet, making her own eyes overflow with tears._

_But, through the blurriness of her eyes, she saw the little girl in the corner of the room, alive._

_Except she wasn’t. Juliet could see right through her._

_Then, the little girl turned around to where Juliet was standing, freezing her in place from somehow being acknowledged in someone else’s nightmare._

_That wasn’t what made her heart stop, though._

_It was the cerulean eyes she stared into, as if she was looking into a mirror._

_“Darkrai…?” The little girl called out._

* * *

Juliet sprang up from her bed, gasping out for air. Her eyes were wide, her body broken out into a cold sweat, and her hands shook violently. She could hardly process what happened. It wasn’t like she knew what it was like to have a near-death experience, but the way her lungs gasped for air, or how her heart received an electrical shock - it felt like she had woken up from being dead. 

**_“That is why you shouldn’t get close to me.”_** She felt someone whisper to her. She clutched her head and frantically looked around her hotel room. No, she wasn’t dreaming anymore. 

She was awake and _alive._

But, the immense feeling of sorrow made her heart ache. Her body burned but felt so cold at the same time. It wasn’t worth going out into the cold of Circhester to get some fresh air, and dipping her feet into the Hero’s Bath didn’t sound appealing either. She really wanted someone’s company right now, but it was too early in the morning to bother anyone who’d be willing to listen. 

Or so she thought. She checked to see what time it was in Hoenn, before dialing a number and silently praying that her call would be picked up. 

_“Hello? Juliet?”_

“H-Hey auntie. It’s been awhile.”

_“What’s wrong, sweetie? It must be serious if you’re calling so early in the morning from Galar.”_

“I just...had a really sad dream. I thought...I thought I died.”

_“Oh, sweetie…I wish I could be there to give you a hug, but you’re OK. Everything is going to be OK. Say it with me.”_

Juliet sobbed and clutched her pillow. “E-Everything is going to be OK.”

_“That’s it, sweetie. You know that your uncle and I love you, right? If anything happens, we’ll be there for you.”_

“Thank you, auntie...Sorry for calling you out of the blue. I’m an adult and yet-”

_“Adults are allowed to be scared too. It doesn’t matter how big or small it is, you’re allowed to feel and cry.”_

Juliet sniffled. “You’re right. Courtney’s doing fine, by the way.”

_“I know. Thank you for being a good big sister to her.”_

“Of course. Well, I’m going to try to get some more sleep. Thank you again, auntie.”

_“You’re very welcome, sweetie. Please, call me anytime you’re feeling upset, alright? I’ll make sure to pick up or call back. Oh and before you hang up - Happy birthday, Juliet!”_

“Oh. Is it really the 15th today? I totally forgot.” A nightmare wasn’t the most welcoming way to celebrate her 22nd birthday, but hearing her aunt’s cheer made her smile gently at the milestone. “Thank you, really.”

_“Now, I know you’re always telling me to not get your anything but look forward to getting something in the mail, OK? Love you!”_

“Love you too. Have a good day.”

_“That’s my line, sweetie. Hee hee.”_

Once she hung up the phone, Juliet called out her Sylveon and Swampert. Normally she would call out her whole party in times of need but there was only so much room on the bed that she could fit. Hilda looked at her trainer knowingly and wrapped her ribbon feelers around her torso, feeling her emotions intently. She whined, snuggling up in her lap while her trainer rested against Hajime’s body. 

“Thank you...Hilda, Hajime.”

* * *

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Juliet groggily swore under her breath from the persistent knocking at her door that she snuggled herself tighter against her Swampert’s body. Hilda squeezed herself out of her trainer’s lap and jumped off of the bed to answer the door. Seeing as it was her friends, she let them in but put her feelers up to her lips to let them know that she was still sleeping. 

“Jules?” Tessu whispered. 

No reply.

“Maybe we should come back a little later..?” Mary trailed off. 

Vanquil set down the bags of food he was holding onto the small coffee table in the corner of the room and fished out a hashbrown. He held it over Juliet’s nose, hoping that she would take the bait and wake up. 

“Tempting me with food? What am I, a Purrloin?” She grumbled, but snatching the hash brown anyway and nibbling on it with her eyes still closed. 

“You say, as you took the bait anyway.”

“Hey, I didn’t say being a Purrloin was a bad thing.”

“Geez, enough about that! Happy birthday, Juliet!” Tessu cheered, clamoring onto the bed and hugging her tightly. Juliet made a retching sound and tried to scoot away with her hash brown only to be cornered by Mary’s arms, and then Vanquil’s hug. Hajime huffed, displeased from being uncomfortably sandwich and shook them off.

“OK, OK, I feel the love! Please let go of me.”

They eventually pulled themselves away from the birthday girl, until they noticed how tired her eyes were.

“Did you get any sleep last night? I didn’t think you’d be that excited for your birthday.” Vanquil teased. 

Suddenly remembering her terrifying dream that felt so real, she shrunk under their gazes. “Darkrai showed me his nightmare.”

That...was not the answer they expected and the celebratory mood from before was gone in an instant. They almost went back to hug her again but she held her hands out before they could. 

“Thanks, but I called my aunt earlier and she made me feel a little better about it too. I didn’t tell her the details either but,” Juliet hugged herself and rubbed her arms. “It was frightening, to say the least. I...I thought I died.”

“Jules…” Mary sat beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “But, you’re here - alive. On your 22nd birthday! I’m sure Darkrai had reasons for showing you his nightmare, but you don’t have to force yourself to think about it if it’s just gonna make you upset. We’re eager to find the answer to everything that’s going on too, but relax.”

Juliet nodded solemnly to herself. At the very least, it did feel like she was getting closer to understanding the meaning behind her nightmares, Darkrai’s intentions, and hopefully about the missing parts of her memories too. “You’re right. I don’t care too much about my birthday, but I’ll use it as an excuse to treat myself.”

“That’s more like it. You should freshen up and get ready!” Tessu suggested, gesturing to the bathroom.

“Good idea.” Juliet slid off the bed, grabbed some clean clothes, and went into the bathroom. Once the lock of the bathroom clicked, the three of them turned to each other and got into a little huddle.

“...Is this still a good idea?” Tessu asked hesitantly.

“Are you kidding? This is exactly what she needs! We need to do this even more than ever.” Vanquil retorted. 

“Still, we shouldn’t overwhelm her either. Let’s keep an extra close eye on her.” Mary warned. They all nodded in agreement before abruptly pulling away when Juliet suddenly stuck her head in the middle of the huddle. She stared at their overly eager smiles suspiciously. 

“...What are you guys scheming?”

“Nothing! We were just having a really intense rock paper scissors match to see who will get the extra hash brown.” Tessu answered innocently. 

“Uh huh...” They were planning something and she didn’t like it. 

* * *

“Gordie, how many times have I told you - you will take over Circhester Gym but you need to work on an Ice-type team. That is what our Gym has been known for.”

“And how many times have I told you, mom, that I want to do things my way?”

The air inside of the gym was tense, and walking in on family spat was nothing short of awkward. Even when the director tried to intervene to diffuse the situation, Melony would shoot him the coldest glare while Gordie held his hand up to keep him from approaching them any closer. 

At this rate, they were going to be behind schedule, and the mother nor son showed any signs of backing down from their side of the argument. 

Hearing her son disagree for who knows how many times despite her persistent attempts to get him to understand things from her perspective, her hand hovered over one of her Pokeballs strapped to her belt. Her eyes narrowed icily. 

“Do we need to go over what happened _last_ time?”

Gordie scoffed. “Last time I checked, it was a tie. And if a battle is the only way for you to understand my goals, then yes, let’s battle.”

“Oh for the love of Arceus…” The director groaned. “I thought you two were going to sort things out well before the shoot. We can’t continue like this.”

“I’m so sorry, Director. We would be in such a bind if Gordie just listened-” Melony started.

“Me?! Why won’t you listen to _me_ for once?” Gordie barked back.

“Watch your tone, young man.”

“See?! You’re not even trying to listen to me!” Gordie gritted his teeth. “You know what, I don’t even want to battle anymore. My rock Pokemon don’t deserve to put themselves in battle when I’m not feeling my best.” He turned around to storm off, making Melony rub her fingers against her temples in annoyance. 

“That boy...Why won’t he listen to his mother?”

The Raid team had watched the whole spat unfold from a safe distance and seeing Gordie storm off and Melony making no attempts to call him back, made them uneasy. The director looked pretty fed up too, and as a result, all of their moods turned sour at the turn of events. 

“Should...Should we do something?” Tessu wondered hesitantly.

“I want to, but should we? Family matters are kind of dicey as it is.” Vanquil grimaced. 

“Well, it wouldn’t hurt to try to talk to them. I think it’s better than letting the tension hang over their heads.” Mary pointed out. 

“...I think I can sympathize how Gordie must be feeling. So, maybe two for two? Vanquil and I will talk to Gordie and you two can talk to Melony?” Juliet suggested. Her friends nodded in agreement and they split off into different directions. 

Juliet and Vanquil exited the mission part of the Gym, wandering through the various halls of the Gym to locate the Rock-type Gym Leader. A few locker room checks later, they finally stumbled across Gordie, slumped on a bench while he cradled his Shuckle in his lap.

“...Sorry you had to see that.” Gordie said, shooting both of them an apologetic smile. 

“It’s OK. Even back at the Opening Ceremonies, we could tell that there was some bad blood between you and your mom.” Vanquil sat next to Gordie, while Juliet followed suit and sat on his other side. “We obviously didn’t want to ask about it.”

“Thanks...But, since you folks did get a front row seat to that, it’s only fair that I give a bit of context on what’s been going on.” 

“Only if you want to, Gordie. We’re all ears.” Juliet assured. He smiled and gingerly patted his Shuckle’s head, feeling his stressed heart settle comfortably. He took a deep breath and let it out as an exhausted sigh.

“Circhester has some deep history involving ice and snow, so it’s only natural that the Gym for the town would specialize in Ice-types. For as long as the Gym Challenge has been a thing, our family has always been in charge of Circhester’s Gym.” Gordie explained. 

“So, your mom is probably big on the family tradition, huh?” Juliet commented. 

“Yeah. And that’s all well and good, but growing up, I couldn’t bring myself to like Ice-type Pokemon as much as Rock-type Pokemon. My mom brushed it off as me being rebellious and trusted that I’d grow out of it but, no. My love and appreciation for Rock Pokemon has never died.”

“What made you like Rock-type Pokemon? I bet living in a family that’s so gung ho about Ice Pokemon doesn’t leave you with much room to explore other types.” Vanquil asked. Gordie smiled fondly at the question and recalled the precious moment that resonated with him in a way he never felt for Ice Pokemon. 

“One day, I was watching some feature about the Gyms in other regions, and I always thought it was strange how most Rock-type Gyms were either the first Gym or somewhere in the beginning. Brock, Roxanne, Roark, Grant - to me it implied that they were weak, that Rock Pokemon were weak.” Gordie removed his shades so they could finally see the passion glimmering in his eyes as he spoke about his favourite type.

“But, when I saw them battle, seeing how unbreakable their resolve was, and just seeing how sturdy and tough Rock Pokemon were, they were anything but weak. Sure, rocks and boulders can crumble but with enough training, they can be impenetrable!” The Rock-type Gym Leader suddenly shot up from his seat, holding his beloved Shuckle high into the air. He looked at the Shuckle with nothing but pride and trust swimming in his blue eyes. 

“Even though the Alola League was recently established, the fact that Olivia could be part of the Elite Four with Rock-type Pokemon? That’s incredible! I want to show the whole world how great and powerful Rock Pokemon are, just as all these trainers have!”

“Gordie…” He was so genuine about what he loved, that it almost brought Juliet to tears only because she understood where he came from on a personal level. To be denied something you want to pursue or love, it was one of the most crushing feelings in the world. Like there was something wrong with you for feeling the way you do. 

It wasn’t like Gordie was passionate on a whim; that he purposely wanted to break his family’s long standing tradition. His determination was strong and there was so much he clearly wanted to prove, that he thought it was a worthy sacrifice to go against what his family wanted - what his mom wanted. 

“Have you told your mom any of this?” 

Lowering his Shuckle, Gordie shook his head. “Not really. I’m always afraid that she’ll make fun of me for having such lofty goals. She did pamper me a lot as a kid, so maybe she doesn’t trust that I can go through with my dreams.”

“Yeah, but if she lets you represent as a Rock-type Gym Leader up to this point, even if she hates it, that must mean she does care to a certain extent.” Vanquil piped in. “I don’t know what it’s like to be a parent, but if she truly saw how dedicated you are like how you showed us, I think she’ll listen.”

“...Do you really think so?” Gordie asked with hopeful eyes.

“Failing to listen and failing to understand are two different things. I think you need to give her a chance to do the former, even if she tries to interrupt.” Juliet nodded. 

Gordie’s shoulders visibly relaxed, like he was finally letting go of all the built of anxiety and fear he kept bottled up. “...Thank you, Vanquil, Juliet.”

“Anytime, Gordie. And hey, don’t feel bad if things are still rocky - these kinds of problems don’t really disappear overnight - Jules, why are you snickering?” Vanquil asked confusingly. 

“Did you not hear the pun you just said?” Juliet snorted.

“Pun? What pun - oh. That wasn’t intentional. I was being serious!” 

“Really? Because, you’re really _cracking_ me up right now.”

“Sorry, am I giving you a _hard_ time?”

“Snrk.” 

Vanquil and Juliet relented their little pun off upon hearing the snort that slipped out of Gordie. They expectantly waited for him to burst out laughing or something, but he was holding himself back despite wiping a tear from his eye. “You two are so lame.”

“We know.”

* * *

“...Thank you, ladies, for coming over to check on me.” 

“It’s no problem, Miss Melony.”

“Oh, no need to be so polite! Just Melony is fine.” Melony kindly corrected while pouring both of them a cup of tea. “I’m sorry if that little fight gave you girls a bad impression of me. I’m not always like this.”

“Don’t apologize. You both seemed pretty tense so it’s understandable that sparks are gonna fly.” Tessu assured. 

“...It’s been hard, yes. When Chairman Rose first proposed the idea of combining our efforts as Gym Leaders for this year, Gordie was the one to object.”

“How come?”

“I imagine it’s because he wasn’t very happy being forced to cooperate with me when I’m not exactly...supportive of his decision to specialize in Rock-type Pokemon.” Melony looked in the direction of where Gordie stormed off with guilt. “I only agreed because I hoped that we could iron things out and see eye-to-eye. But, that boy refuses to budge. How ironic.”

“Why don’t you support him?” Mary asked. 

“It’s tradition for our family to specialize in Ice-types. It’s something that we hold with great pride, you see. To change our ways would be disrespectful to the past Ice Gym Leaders that worked their hardest to keep the tradition alive in the first place. We have a responsibility to uphold that honor.”

“...Doesn’t that mean you’re not giving Gordie a chance, though?” Tessu thought out-loud before slapping a hand over her mouth at how blunt her statement sounded. 

Melony seemed bothered by the comment too based on how she leaned back, as if offended. But, actually thinking it over, the Ice-type Gym Leader saw some truth in her words. Gordie was far from weak. His priorities might be different from hers, but the end goal was the same - to be a worthy and strong Gym Leader. Even then, it was still hard to change her perspective, when she was raised and nurtured to adopt that viewpoint. 

Perhaps it meant that Gordie was stronger than her, mentally. The fact that he was moving down a different path that he thought for himself instead of just obediently doing what others told him. 

“I-I’m sorry, Melony. That was really rude of me. I didn’t mean for that to slip-”

“Tessu, sweetie, don’t worry about it. I won’t lie and say that you aren’t right. Deep down, I just want the best for Gordie. It’s...a little hard to explain since you two aren’t parents but, imagine yourselves having a child.” Melony began, closing her eyes.

“You raise them with all your heart from when they were in diapers, to when they take their first steps, to when they speak and have the awareness to know what it is they like and don’t like. But, there’s always one worry that lingers in the back of your mind - how will my child survive in the real world? Anything happening to a child is every parent's worst nightmare. If there’s anything we could do, to pave the way for them so they can have an easier life, we’ll consider it strongly.” 

Melony looked down at her Dynamax band. “There’s security in pursuing a path that you know will lead to success. I don’t doubt the fans and followers that Gordie has, but one day, when I give him full ownership of the Gym, I’m afraid of what the locals will think. I’m afraid of what our extended family will think. If there’s anything that makes people the most afraid, it’s change. I…” Melony bit her lip. “I don’t want my son to have to suffer any sort of blow back from his decision.”

Tessu reached out and placed her hand on top of Melony’s, which was curled up tightly in her lap. “But as his mom, you have the strength to believe in your son and vouch for his strength. We may not know what it’s like to be in the shoes of a parent, but having faith in the people you care about, can make them reach their full potential.”

Mary put her own hand over top Melony’s other hand. “You don’t have to give up on your views, but opening yourself up to others isn’t so bad, is it? Maybe you’ll never see eye-to-eye, maybe you’ll always agree to disagree, but don’t you want to let go of his hand and see where he goes with his own power?”

“But, what if-”

“We’re scared of change too. Even now, our fanbase is changing the more we grow. But, even if there’s more hate comments and trolls, we’re always going to be there for each other to bring each other back up. We know who we are better than anyone else and we know what it is we stand for. Because you can’t make everyone happy.” Tessu explained, squeezing Melony’s hand comfortingly.

“Gordie’s a strong trainer, but even if there are people who don’t like him for whatever reason, you’ll be there to support him, won’t you?” Mary hoped with a small smile. 

Melony, overwhelmed by their encouraging words, swallowed back her tears. She pulled her hands back, only to take both of their hands into hers. It was going to take time for their words to truly sink in, and for her to take the steps to be more open-minded to her son’s aspirations, but there was still time, and she wasn’t going to rush the process. “Thank you, my dears. I think it’s time to stop being so overbearing towards Gordie. I...I still don’t entirely agree with his decision, but, I want to give him the chance he deserves so he can prove me wrong.”

Tessu grinned widely. “Alright! That’s the spirit! Let’s finish our tea and get back to the shoot!”

“Oh! That reminds me,” Mary remembered. “Would you and Gordie like to join us at Bob’s Your Uncle after the shoot? We planned a little surprise party for Juliet’s birthday.”

“Oh my, it’s her birthday today? Are you sure? I feel a little bad for not getting her anything.” Melony lamented.

“That’s not a problem. Juliet gets a little flustered from being pampered with gifts but I’m sure she won’t mind the company. I think you and Gordie deserve to take a break and have fun too before you have to battle Gym Challengers.”

“How sweet of you. I’m sure Gordie would appreciate it too.”

* * *

“...Mom.” Gordie greeted.

“...Gordie.” Melony answered back. 

“I’m sorry!” They exclaimed in unison. They both froze upon realization and stared at each other, waiting for one of them to explain their apology first. Seeing as though Gordie was the one to storm off first, he sighed and bit the bullet.

“I’m sorry, mom. I haven’t been completely honest with you about my reasons for wanting to stick with Rock-type Pokemon because I was afraid that you’d make fun of me or not believe in my passion.” Gordie bowed his head apologetically. “I know you’re worried about me but please, hear me out.”

“Gordie…Lift up your head.” Melony ordered softly. He slowly raised his head and his heart dropped upon seeing tears welling up in his mother’s eyes. He thought he really did it this time, until she gently took one of his hands.

“I’m sorry too. I was so caught up in my pride and afraid of the unknown road ahead that I wasn’t being fair towards your feelings. I...I still think Ice-types are far more superior to Rock-types, but I’m going to open my heart to them a bit more.”

“Do you mean it?”

“I do. For real this time. But, let’s talk about it more at home, OK? I’ll listen to everything you have to say, if you’ll do the same for me.” Melony promised with a gentle smile. Gordie smiled back cheerfully and graciously shook his mother’s hand.

“Sounds good to me.”

“...Have you two finally made up?” The director asked sternly with his arms crossed. 

“For the most part, yes. Sorry for delaying the shoot. Let’s get to it, shall we? Gordie? Raid Prism?” 

“Ready when you are, mom.”

“Yes! Let’s do this so we can par-” Tessu doubled over in pain when Vanquil elbowed her side. Vanquil and Mary held their fingers up against their lips, harshly reminding her to not say another word. But, Juliet was already way ahead of them.

“Party…? Juliet guessed curiously. 

“Director!! Let’s get to work!” Vanquil frantically waved. 

* * *

Her friends weren’t exactly subtle. Once the shoot ended, they immediately hightailed it and the director conveniently needed to talk to her about something. Except he didn’t and went on a tangent about the weather..Melony and Gordie were nowhere to be seen either. Probably got roped into their plans as well. When he finally finished his lecture about typhoons, Juliet got a message from her friends asking her what’s taking her so long. She felt a little guilty for catching on to their plans early on, that she opted to play along instead of rat them out seeing as though they went through the trouble to do something for her. 

She headed out into the cold town in the direction of the popular restaurant and noticed how all the front lights were off and the blind were completely drawn closed. It was...kind of endearing how hard they were trying. Though it seemed a bit overboard to rent out the whole restaurant just for a few people. Grabbing the door handle and mentally preparing herself to put on her most convincing surprised reaction, she pulled down the knob and entered the dark restaurant.

“Sorry that I’m-”

“SURPRISE!!!” The restaurant lights lit up all at once, revealing not just her friends, but all the Gym Leaders, Leon, Hop, Gloria, Sonia, Courtney, Phil, and…

“Auntie and Uncle?! What are you two doing here?!” Juliet gawked in genuine surprise. This was way more than she expected and she could hardly believe her eyes, long after the raining confetti had stopped. To think that everyone was in on the surprise and even had time to come, she couldn’t put into words how...appreciated and loved she felt. 

“Are you surprised, sweetie?” Tiffany giggled. “Since Courtney has been staying with you for a bit, your uncle and I thought it couldn’t hurt to take a few days off to visit Galar! Your birthday conveniently fell around the time we’re staying and Courtney let us in on the plan.”

“And Phil! You said you were sick and couldn’t come into work!”

“I was _working_ on putting this party together. Who do you think helped round everyone up?” Phil snickered. “Surprised?”

“I-I’ll be honest. I sort of suspected a party but I thought it was just going to be the team and Courtney. I didn’t think the whole league was going to be here!” Juliet cried. It was almost too much, seeing everyone looking at her gently with smiles on their faces. There was always something embarrassing at the idea of being surrounded by people for your birthday, even with friends and family. 

She probably looked like an absolute idiot just standing there, looking at the ground because she couldn’t look anyone in the eye without feeling flustered. 

“It was just going to be the few of us because we figured that you wouldn’t want a big hoopla either. But, knowing you and how even on your birthday, you want everyone to have a good time, some of them overhead our plans and wanted to join in too.” Tessu explained. “That being said, this is still YOUR special day. Don’t get things twisted.”

“We wanted to make this a fun day for you. We don’t have a whole lot planned asides from food and games, but we figured that’s what you would have wanted.” Vanquil grinned. 

Mary handed Juliet her shiny Trapinch, who was wearing a little party hat on his head and holding a small wrapped gift in his mouth. 

“Pistachio has something for you, Jules.”

Raising her eyebrow, Juliet carefully pried the gift from Pistachio’s mouth and carefully unwrapped it before opening the lid of the box. Her heart melted instantly, and she gazed at her darling Trapinch with watery eyes. 

Inside the box was a Pokeball, shaped as a heart, enamel pin that said, ‘I love you’.

“When I went on a walk with Pistachio, he saw that pin in a store and he really wanted it. I figured it was for you.” Courtney giggled. 

Juliet choked on her tears and lovingly cradled Pistachio in her arms, making him coo and nuzzle her cheek affectionately. “Thank you, Pistachio...I love you too.” She lifted her head to regard everyone in the room with softened eyes. 

“Everyone...Thank you so much for coming. I think this is the biggest turn out I’ve ever had for a birthday because, well,” She frowned a little. “I’ve been told that having birthday parties was too much work when I was a kid. But, now that I’m here, surrounded by wonderful people who want to celebrate with me, I couldn’t be happier.”

“Then, let’s get this party started!” Hop cheered. 

Upon hearing that announcement, the restaurant lit up with music and laughter. Juliet thought it was a little dizzying, being pulled into different conversations from being the center of attention, but it felt nice to catch up with some of the Gym Leaders near the beginning of the Gym Challenge. It served as a bitter sweet reminder of how quickly the Champion Cup was approaching, and then the end of the event all together. 

But seeing everyone in the league engaged in conversation with each other over drinks (non-alcoholic drinks for the minors of course), outside of their competitive personas, they treated each other like they were family. 

Then again, everyone at the party was like one big family. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've said this a few times before on Twitter but I'm really satisfied with how I wrote the feud between Melony and Gordie. Gordie really strikes me as someone who admires and appreciates the under-dogs, so when I started thinking about how I should write this chapter way back when, I noticed the common pattern in Pokemon games where rock type gyms were always the first gym or somewhere in the beginning, which kind of implies that they're easy to go up against for beginner trainers. So, noticing that, everything fell into place and Melony's anxieties about being a parent was really refreshing since it challenged me to think in the mindset of parent in a way that would make sense towards Gordie's perspective. 
> 
> The next chapter, which is another side chapter, is pretty self-indulgent in that there's going to be lots of video game references but overall, it's going to be a fun one!
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading this chapter and please leave a kudos and or a comment if you'd like!


	15. Side Chapter - Nothing Like the Present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Video games references abound! This is just a fun chapter of everyone having a good time!

**Side Chapter: Nothing like the Present**

****

* * *

“Lee, we’ve been window shopping for almost an hour. Can’t you just pick something already?” Hop grumbled impatiently. “Besides, why did you ask me to tag along anyway? You know Juliet better than me-”

That was the thing. As much as he wanted to believe that he knew her well, he didn’t actually know the  _ exact _ things she was into. He knew she liked video games and even technology, but he could hardly call himself an expert on either topics. That’s why he invited Hop to help him out and to also pick out something for Juliet while he was at it. His brother, and even Gloria, both had Nintendo Switches and similar games that he briefly noticed that were on Juliet’s shelves as well, so Hop must know a lot more than he did. 

Though, it was a bit embarrassing for Leon to admit his short-comings to his younger brother.

“Well…” Leon started. “You know about video games more than me so-”

“Why didn’t you mention that at the start?!”

“Sorry! I didn’t want you to think I was lame or anything.”

Hop rolled his eyes. “Alright, alright. I get it. If we’re going to video game related gifts, then the best place to go is the games store.” The young Gym Challenger practically had to drag his older brother by the wrist because Arceus knows he would have been distracted by other shop displays to follow himself. He pulled him into a store that specialized in video games, merch, and other nerdy paraphernalia that made Leon a bit weak in the knees from how...overwhelming it all was. 

It felt like he stepped into a completely different world that put to shame on the minimal knowledge he did know. 

“Relax, Lee. It’s not as intimidating as it looks.” Hop snickered. “So, do you know any video games that Juliet is into?”

Leon rubbed his arm sheepishly. “Not by name but, something I did notice when I was at her house was that she had a lot of merch of this one character who kind of looks like a green turtle with a big nose?”

“Oh, you must be talking about Yoshi! Juliet’s a fan of him, huh? Never would have guessed but he is kind of cute.” Hop browsed through the collection of goods, searching for items featuring the aforementioned dinosaur creature and gestured to a few that were either Nintendo Switch cases, plush toys, or small figurines called Amiibos. But, nothing stood out in particular to Leon that made the gift special coming from him. He didn’t want to just find a gift pertaining to her interests, but as cheesy as it sounds, he wanted her to be reminded of him through it. 

“I think I’ll get her a game case. What about you, Lee?”

“Hmm…” Leon pondered out loud. He moved away from the racks of merchandise that Hop had led him to and wandered over to the apparel section where there were t-shirts, wallets, backpacks, and even mugs with various characters printed on them. Then his eyes lit up with interest upon noticing the racks of snapback hung up along the wall. He couldn’t help being enamored by his all-time favourite accessory to collect. 

So, there were even hats designed after video games, huh? 

“Now, that’s a face I didn’t expect to see here!” An employee bellowed from behind him, startling the Champion out of his thoughts. “Whoa, didn’t mean to scare ya, Champion! So, what brings you here today?”

“Uhhh…” Leon cleared his throat and regained his composure. “Is there a snapback with Yoshi on it?”

“There sure is! We actually have different Yoshis in different colours!” The employee went behind the counter to grab a long hook to pluck the hats from the wall. He carefully set down the variety of hats in a line for Leon’s convenience. 

Or, so he thought.

Now Leon had the internal dilemma of picking which colour Juliet would want. Should he just go for the original green because it was the most iconic? But, what if she wanted to change it up with a different colour?

“I don’t mean to pry, Champion, but do you need help in deciding?” The employee asked.

Leon smiled wryly. The worker didn’t have to keep calling him ‘Champion’. He was hardly dressed like one at the moment too. “You can just call me Leon. And, I could use some help, yeah.”

“If you say so! Anyway, why not pick one of your favourite colour?”

“Oh, the hat isn’t for me.” Leon answered honestly. 

“Then, do you know what the recipient’s favourite colour is?”

“Definitely blue. Sky blue to be exact.”

“Then,” The worker picked up the snapback with the sky blue Yoshi embroidered patch on the front with a matching coloured brim, and handed it to him. “I’d go with their favourite colour. Feels more personal, ya know?”

Leon looked over the hat with a fond smile. Yeah, it was the right choice. He tried to imagine what her reaction would be once she saw it. Would her eyes sparkle with excitement? Or, would she stammer with embarrassment? No, now wasn’t the time to go back on his commitment. “I’ll take it!”

“Excellent! I’ll just ring you up at the counter and-”

“Actually, I also want to buy an Nintendo Switch as well.” Leon added with a grin. He didn’t have any hobbies to speak of besides working out because of his busy schedule, but seeing as how his brother, his mentor, and Juliet, were all into the same hobby, it was worth getting into it as well since it would give him something to bond over with them. Though, he wasn’t quite sure what games to get since he could sink in many hours for games that required that kind of dedication. Were there any games that he could play, on and off, whenever he had time to kill?

“If you’re going to get a Switch, Lee, then you should get this game called Pokemon Crossing New Horizons! It’s a relaxing game where you’re living on an island with Pokemon villagers, and you can do things like customize your house, go fishing, and catch bugs! It’s an easy game to play that you don’t need to invest a lot of time for.” Hop explained, reaching up to grab a brand new copy of the game for his brother from the shelf. “You can even play with other people and visit their islands!”

“Thanks for the recommendation, Hopscotch. I’ll take it.”

After thanking the employee and leaving the store with his bagged items in hand, Leon snuck a peek at the Sky Blue Yoshi snapback with lingering hesitation.

“...Do you think Juliet will like it?”

“Of course she will!” Hop smiled widely. “Because it’s from you, Lee.”

* * *

“We’re back!” Hop exclaimed, welcoming the warmth of the restaurant that contrasted the frigid temperatures of the snowy town. 

“Welcome back!” Gloria greeted, holding out her arms to take their winter jackets. “So, what did you two get for Juliet?”

“I bought a Switch game case for her. Lee bought her a Yoshi snapback-”

“So, my niece is still a fan of him, huh? That’s good to hear.” Dave, Juliet’s uncle, interjected with a light chuckle. Leon’s eye widened in recognition at the older man and went over to him with his hand outstretched and his smile wide.

“Dave! It’s been a while. How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been doing great! Looks like you’ve been doing well for yourself too.”

“Aha...That’s one way of putting it.” Leon chuckled sheepishly. “It’s a pleasant surprise to see you here and I imagine Tiffany is here too. Is your inn OK without the two of you, though?”

“No need to worry about that, Champ. My security system is state of the art and I can rely on my Beldums to watch over the inn safely.” Dave reassured. “Besides, Tiffany and I have been meaning to go on a bit of a vacation. Courtney here insisted that we come for Juliet’s birthday.”

Courtney skipped over with Pistachio cradling in her arms and beamed brightly at the both of them. “I’m glad you and mom could take time off! You two are always too busy.”

Dave rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry about that, Pumpkaboo. You know how it is.”

“By the way, Dave,” Leon gestured to the projector set up and facing a white wall. “What’s all this?”

“Ahh. I’m setting up a make-shift theatre here so everyone can play games on a big screen. When Juliet first moved in with us, she couldn’t sleep for the first few nights because of nightmares. So, late at night, whenever I saw her awake in the dining hall, I’d invite her to my office to play video games to keep her mind off of her nightmares. I know that sounds pretty bad for her sleep schedule at first, but I could tell they were helping her cope and she was able to sleep easier.” Dave reminisced fondly.

He remembered the first night when his niece moved in with them, and she was sitting in the dining room alone, crying to herself in the dark with only the moonlight keeping her company. He thought he understood what loneliness was, but he had never seen  **_that_ ** kind of loneliness. He wasn’t as close to her as his wife was, being cooped up in the security room and all, but it was all the more reason to try to bond with his niece and make her feel truly at home. Her forever home, he hoped. 

* * *

_ “Hey there, kiddo. What’s with the long face?” _

_ Juliet lifted her head up, looking at her uncle with tear stained cheeks. “I’m sorry, uncle...I had a bad dream...that I was back at that house. I...I wanted to stay awake so I know that I’m not there…” _

_ Dave frowned deeply at that. He could tell her emotional scars ran deep, and who knows how long it would take for them to heal. But, no matter how long it took, he was going to be there for her no matter what. He held his hand out to her and smiled kindly. _

_ “Follow me.” _

_ She slowly put her smaller hand in his and he led her down the hallway to his office. He placed his hand against the screen detector, which allowed the door to slide open for them. He turned on the projector, which made Juliet wince from the sudden brightness. Dave apologized quietly under his breath and toned down the brightness so she could see the start screen of a party game comfortably. He handed her a purple controller and plopped down beside her on the couch. _

_ “I-I don’t know how to play…” Juliet mumbled. _

_ “Don’t worry, I’ll show you the ropes. It’s easy! Trust me.” Dave started up the usual set-up for Mario Party 7 before the screen brought them to the character select screen. He instantly chose his usual character, Luigi, and waited for his niece to choose her character. _

_ “Having trouble deciding?” _

_ “A little...Who do you think I should choose?” _

_ “Let’s see…” Dave gently took the controller from her and moved the cursor around each character before choosing the green dinosaur character, Yoshi. When he handed her back the controller, she looked at her uncle curiously. _

_ “Why did you choose that character for me?” _

_ “Yoshi’s a happy and cheerful character who smiles a lot. You used to be like that when you were a lot younger. As long as you’re living under this roof, I hope you’ll be able to smile as much as you did back then.” Dave answered honestly while patting her head affectionately. Juliet’s eyes widened a little by her uncle’s earnest answer and she looked back at the screen and the character that was chosen for her. _

_ “...He’s cute.” _

_ “Isn’t he? He’s kind of like a Pokemon too and only says his name.” _

_ “Really? That’s kind of funny…” _

_ “But, the one thing that separates him and you is that he eats a lot. I notice you don’t eat much, kiddo.” He didn’t mean to sound intrusive, but even in the dimly lit office, he noticed how alarmingly thin she was. No doubt she didn’t have the appetite to eat with how miserably she was living in her previous home. He had to count his blessings for taking custody of her, but it didn’t settle the boiling anger he felt for not noticing the signs sooner.  _

_ “...I was too sad to eat. And...sometimes mom would give me certain things to eat so I didn’t grow fat and I’d look my best whenever I was interviewed…” Juliet confessed with a shaky voice.  _

_ For Arceus sake, the fact that she understood the implications even though she was still so young was nothing short of  _ **_fucked_ ** _ up. And her, not knowing any better, could only grit her teeth and bear it.  _

_ “I’m...I’m so sorry, Juliet.” _

_ “It’s not your fault, uncle. Auntie gave me a lot of food to eat today and even though I couldn’t finish it all, I ate more than I have before.” _

_ “I’m glad. We’ll help you get back into shape, kiddo, so all you need to do is try to relax, rest, and know that you’re safe here. We’ll protect you.” _

* * *

“So, she picked up that hobby from you.” Leon remarked with a gentle smile. “I’m glad she was able to live in a happier home.”

“Me too...But, I thought that over time, her nightmares would go away for good but, it seems like she’s still experiencing them…” Dave lamented grimly. “She had a pretty bad one this morning that she called my wife.”

“Oh…” Hearing that made Leon’s heart ache. Recurring nightmares...that was the first he heard about them happening to Juliet. He knew she kept a lot to herself and often let herself get lost in her own head, but to think they were manifesting through nightmares. The trauma she experienced left a bigger impact on her than he initially thought.

“Now, now, we can’t afford to be gloomy on Juliet’s birthday. Let’s make this the best and unforgettable birthday for her. She can’t smile if she sees that someone isn’t.” Dave encouraged. 

“You’re right. Sorry about that.”

“No worries, Champ. Based on the frown from before, you care about her a lot, don’t you?” Dave teased with a wink. 

Leon blushed lightly but nodded suringly. “I do. She’s...She’s a lot stronger than she probably thinks.”

“I agree. Even through the pain, she’ll keep carrying them as long as she can see another day.”

* * *

“Right hand on red.”

“...You’ve got to be kidding me.” Raihan grunted, shakily lifting his hand and placing it on the closest red spot by Gordie’s head. The Rock Gym Leader almost flinched from how close his hand was and being in the uncomfortable position he was already in between Hop and Kabu, he was at his limit.

“Wow, Kabu! You’re more...flexible than you look!” Hop wheezed. Kabu couldn’t exactly turn his head to acknowledge the young trainer, that the most he could muster was a strained chuckle.

“I may be old, but I got some endurance left in me.”

“You’re up next, Hop!” Gloria giggled. 

“Bring...it on. Please no green, please no green, please no green…”

“Left foot on green!”

“...Bollucks.” Hop swore under his breath. Somehow Leon heard that from across the room and looked at him disapprovingly, to which he ignored. He couldn’t really see where his feet were moving, but upon lifting it up, the sole of his foot accidentally knocked against Raihan’s jaw. He yelped and crashed to the ground, bringing everyone else down with him.

“Ow, Hop!”

“Look, mate, I couldn’t see where my foot was going!”

“Raihan, get off, you’re crushing us!” Gordie yelled, his voice muffled from having his face planted into the ground. The tall Dragon Gym Leader pulled himself off of the others, allowing them to roll off of the Twister mat and rub their sore limbs.

“Hey, birthday girl! You should play Twister next!” Raihan called. 

“Based on that performance, I think I’ll pass.” Juliet laughed nervously. She wasn’t really in the mood to twist her body up like a pretzel with other people. Especially if it might involve being crushed under someone as big as either Raihan or Gordie.

“Then, why don’t we play a good ol’ game of Truth or Dare?”

“ _ Hard pass. _ ”

“You’re no fun.” Raihan pouted. “Then, why not open more presents? There are still a few you haven’t opened yet, like Leon’s.” Raihan shot Leon a sly smile from across the room, who choked on his drink and turned away.

“Sure! Which one is it?”

Leon cleared his throat and made his way over to fish out his present from the pile and gingerly handed it to her. Like with all the other presents, Juliet inspected the present bag curiously. She couldn’t help but play guessing games in her head of what her presents were based on the person she was getting it from.

What kind of presents would Leon give to people? She could see him giving Pokemon as gifts, from when he gave Hop and Gloria their starter Pokemon. But, what else could he give? There wasn’t a whole lot to go off of so all that was left to do was see what was inside. 

She took one peek and her eyes widened. 

Oh,  _ of course _ .

If this wasn’t the most  _ Leon _ gift in the world, then she didn’t know him as well as she thought she did. But, she was surprised that he even knew about her fondness for Yoshi.

He...He didn’t think she was childish, did he?

Leon didn’t seem bothered by her reaction and even tried to hold back his own laughter. 

“Go on. Put it on.”

Chuckling, Juliet reached into the bag and pulled out the snapback with a sky blue brim and a sky blue Yoshi embroidered patch on the front. “Leon, I don’t look good in snapbacks.”

“Says who?”

“Says me.”

Leon rolled his eyes and snatched the snapback from her hands and placed it on her head. “Looks good to me.”

“Oh! I think my gift will look perfect with that look!” Sonia giggled, reaching into the gift pile to pull out hers. 

Wondering what Sonia meant by that, Juliet unwrapped her present to reveal a small assortment of hair scrunchies with varying designs. The aspiring professor plucked the aqua blue scrunchie with the fluffy white clouds and gestured to Juliet to turn around so she could put her hair up in it. 

Sonia had tied up her hair into a low ponytail that curled over her right shoulder. 

“There we go! You look so cute!” 

Juliet flushed right to her ears and she stared at her curled fists in her lap. “You don’t think it’s weird?”

“That you like that sort of thing? No way! It’s part of who you are! There’s nothing to be ashamed of.” Sonia comforted earnestly. “Besides, it’s always a plus to learn something new about someone. Now, to match, why don’t we get Hajime over so I can take a photo?”

“Alright, alright.” Juliet beckoned her Swampert over, who took one look at her snapback and gave her a funny look. She shot back a look that said ‘don’t judge me’, making Hajime snort and got into position in front of his trainer. 

Sonia turned the camera around so herself, Hajime, Juliet, and Leon were all in frame. Just as Sonia took the photo, Raihan stuck his hand into the shot so his blurred hand was covering up Leon.

“Raihan!”

“Sorry. Lemme join in this shot. You know I can’t miss out on a photo op.” Sitting on the other side of Juliet, he swung his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him. 

He was a little too close for comfort. Not to mention their height difference made their position a bit  _ uncomfortable  _ that the side of her head planted into his chest, making her yelp in surprise. Her 5’2” vs his 6’8” was laughable at best, even when they were just sitting.

“Oof, give me some space. You’re both taller than me, you know. Mind shaving off a few inches and giving some to me?” Juliet huffed, pushing the Dragon-type Gym Leader away. That only made him retract his arm to fold them over her head, as if using it as something to lean on.

“...Did you hear something, Leon?”

“Hey!”

“Come on, Raihan. Stop teasing her.” Leon shooed his friend's arm away and put a hand on one of Juliet’s shoulders. “Hurry up and take the photo Sonia before this guy has any other bright ideas.”

After taking the photo, Raihan left to get another drink and went off to chat with Nessa. Juliet took off the Yoshi snapback to get a better look at it before putting it back on and giggling at Leon. “Thanks for the snapback! As expected of the snapback King.”

“Please don’t make it a habit to call me that, J.” Leon laughed. “Do you actually like it, though? I didn’t know if you would have preferred jewelry or clothes or-”

“Relax, Lee! I do like it. I think I’ll wear it sometimes for good luck. But, how did you know that I like this character?”

“I remember seeing merch of him the last time I was at your place. I’d figured you liked him, but Hop clued me in on who he was. Your uncle also told me about...when you first moved in with them-”

“...Yeah. But, sometimes I feel a little silly…” Juliet trailed off with a small pout.

“Don’t be. There’s nothing wrong with relying on something for comfort. I mean, you don’t think it’s weird that I like collecting snapbacks, do you?” Leon asked with a bemused smile.

“Of course not! If it makes you happy, then I don’t see anything wrong with it.”

“Exactly. So, don’t feel embarrassed about what you like around me, OK? I want to learn more about what you like so I know what to get you for your future birthdays.”

“Already thinking about my next birthdays? I’m touched.” Juliet giggled light-heartedly.

His smile widened. “I mean it. I actually bought an Nintendo Switch myself and a copy of Pokemon Crossing.”

Just as he expected, her eyes lit up excitedly. “Really?! Let me help you set it up so-”

“Big sis! Stop talking to Leon and play Mario Party with me!” Courtney cried out. Juliet sighed and smiled apologetically at the Champion before getting up from her seat to play with her cousin. Leon watched her go with gentle eyes, not noticing that Tiffany took Juliet’s place beside him. 

“Long time no see, Leon.” She greeted him happily. 

“Oh! It’s good to see you again, Tiffany. Have you been keeping in touch with my mum?” He asked. He fondly recalled how kind and selfless she was during his family’s, holding her in high regard as a result on top of how Juliet spoke about her. 

He didn’t know much about her uncle on the other hand, but he did learn more about him from their earlier exchange. He was often holed up in his office from what he remembered during his stay. When he had been introduced to him by Juliet when she wanted to show off her uncle’s Metagross and Salamence, he was a lot gentler and down to earth than he initially thought. He looked around the restaurant and spotted him chatting with Kabu. 

They were undoubtedly good people and their loving natures didn’t falter a bit after all these years. 

“I try my best to! But, our inn has been pretty busy these past few years. I hope she’s well.”

“She is. Thank you again for everything back then.” 

“No need for thanks! It’s been 8 years, you know.” Tiffany chuckled. 

“I know, but that vacation really helped me.”

“Oh, I’m very aware.” 

Leon blushed a little at the smugness in her voice and how wide her smile stretched. Looks like he couldn’t escape from being teased by Juliet’s aunt either. He couldn’t help but hold onto memories of that time so fondly. Not to mention the feelings of longing that only seem to grow the more he spent time with Juliet. It was getting hard for him to not wear his heart on his sleeve or not yearn for her company.

“Why don’t you tell her? I’m 100% sure she feels just as strongly as you do.” Tiffany encouraged while putting a comforting hand on top of his own. 

She...She did? Either she was a great actress at hiding her affections or he was severely missing something. 

“Really? She’s really good at hiding it then…”

“Knowing her, she’s probably got a lot of things on her plate right now that love is something that she doesn’t actively think about. Has she told you…”

“About her being Champion? Yeah, she has told me.”

“Oh, good. I knew she would tell you eventually. It’s kind of ironic, really. She gives so much of her own heart and compassion to other people, but in the end, she’s afraid of what people will do with it.” Tiffany sighed. “Of course, it’s not my place to push you because I’m sure you have your own reasons for keeping your feelings to yourself, but if you do decide to tell her in the future,” She smiled hopefully at him. “All I ask is that you take care of her and treasure her heart.”

Leon knew she didn’t mean to put so much pressure on him, but now more than ever, he wanted to confess eight years worth of pent up feelings. For now, he decided to make it a goal - tell Juliet at the end of the Champion Cup and ask her to be his date for the after-party and hopefully, their relationship will take off from there. “I promise, and I’m sure you’ll be the first to know when it happens.”

“Oh, I better be-”

“Why won’t this last candy come out?!” Raihan exclaimed loudly with frustration, making Leon and Tiffany look over to the scene of everyone crowd around the make-shift theatre, where Raihan was shaking a light blue coloured joy-con like his life depended on it.

“You gotta rotate the jar too, Raihan-” Tessu snickered.

“I’m trying but it’s not-!”

“Wow, you took too long that the game had to give you a time’s up.” Sonia noted bluntly, stifling a laugh behind her hand. 

“Then, you have a go, Sonia! It’s not as easy as it looks!”

“I wanna play the musical mini-games after!” Courtney announced. “Piers, as a fellow singer, I bet you have really good rhythm!”

Piers scratched the side of his face. “That’s one way of puttin’ it. I don’t know how well that will translate to a game, though.”

“Let’s put it to the test then! You’ll play too right, big sis?”

“Sure!”

“Then, Milo should be player 4!”

“M-Me?!” Milo squeaked. 

“I always thought Gym Leaders had a serious air about them all the time, but you’re quite the lively bunch, aren’t you?” Tiffany remarked with a light giggle. “Shall we join them?”

“I think we should. Hey, guys! Can we have a go after?” Leon laughed. 

* * *

**Full Body Reference for Courtney (Juliet's cousin)**

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's actually one more fun chapter after tomorrow's main chapter update for next week. And then things will start to escalate in terms of plot - so I hope you enjoy the fun times while they last!
> 
> I couldn't help but be a little extra self-indulgent towards my other personal interests hee hee. I've always loved how with each Pokemon game, your character would have a console of that generation but part of me wishes they did something more with that because it could make for some really cute Easter Eggs!
> 
> As always, thank you very much for reading this chapter and I hope you'll read the one for tomorrow! Feel free to leave a kudos and or a comment!
> 
> EDIT: I know I said I was going to update with another regular chapter the next day but I'm actually going to do it over the weekend to let the cheer of this chapter linger for a bit longer! Sorry about that!


	16. Letting Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juliet desperately tries to reach out to Darkrai to try to understand his pain, but the Mythical Pokemon, wracked with guilt, feels that his burdens should only be shouldered by him alone.

**Chapter 11: Letting Go**

****

* * *

  
  


_“Darkrai?”_

_No response._

_“Come on, I know you’re there.”_

_No response._

_“OK, if you’re not going to come out, I’ll just talk into the void by myself. You haven’t showed up since that nightmare, but I won’t stop until I get answers. I was upset about what I saw, but there must be more to it and I want you to tell me because this is far beyond ‘curiosity’ and ‘observation’.”_

**_“Why do you seek the truth?”_ **

_He was nowhere to be seen, but that was undeniably his voice._

_“Because living in ignorance is the same as running away. And I don’t want to keep running away, even if it hurts. You’re hurting too, aren’t you? Isn’t that why you’re lonely?”_

**_“Isn’t the truth something you cannot forgive?”_ **

_“...Darkrai, did you intend to kill the girl?”_

**_“No, but-”_ **

_“I’ve already seen what happened, but tell me what happened. Tell me what you felt, tell me what YOU saw.”_

_Darkrai slowly appeared at a distance in front of her, but his teal eyes refused to look at her. From how far he was standing away, he probably felt scared and shameful. But, he made no attempts to disappear again._

**_“...That little girl was...my friend. I don’t recall how we met, but she was a strange one, reaching out to something as horrifying as me. She was very ill and couldn’t go outside, so perhaps she found solace in my company. Her parents didn’t know about me, however. Whenever she would mention me, they assumed I was just an imaginary friend.”_ **

_As his past was being told, the dark void surrounding them filled up with projections of his memories. Juliet watched the projections with a feeling of awe. Looking into someone else’s memories made her feel...closer to them. She could feel his happiness, she could feel his sorrow - she could feel everything as if those memories were her own._

**_“But on the night of a new moon, they saw me. They screamed, they threw objects at me, and out of a fit of anger to protect myself, I...I unleashed an attack directed at them. But…”_ ** _His voice wavered uneasily._ **_“At the last moment, she cried out to me to stop and she threw herself into the attack.”_ **

_“Darkrai, stop!” The girl screamed in the projection. Juliet couldn’t help but tear her eyes away when the attack landed and the girl let out a scream that chilled her to the bone. She couldn’t tell if she was feeling the little girl’s pain, or Darkrai’s anguish at what he had just done._

**_“Everyone thinks I’m a bad Pokemon because of how terrifying my powers are...I thought it was my destiny to play the role of the villain. But, that girl...She was delusional to think that she could see the good in a Pokemon like me - and look what happened. Her kindness stabbed her in the back! My very existence is only to bring pain and suffering.”_ **

_“But, Darkrai-”_

**_“I was falling into the same trap with you, Champion Juliet. It....felt pleasant to have some company again, but seeing you surrounded by people who love and care about you after all that you’ve been through, it was wrong to think that we were the same - two souls who have been wronged by the world. Between the two of us, I’m satisfied that it was you who got a second chance. But me? I don’t deserve it.”_ ** _Darkrai slowly floated away, and phased out of her consciousness. Juliet jumped up frantically, trying to reach out to the Mythical Pokemon before he disappeared, but he was already gone._

_The only thing he left behind in her heart were eyes full of despair and loneliness._

_She couldn’t help him._

_“Darkrai!!”_

* * *

Waking up was supposed to be liberating now that the source of her nightmares was gone, but she couldn’t find it in herself to feel that way. All this time of wanting the nightmares to go away and wanting to keep running from the past, Darkrai’s presence...was actually helping her. His nightmares made her recognize her insecurities and come to terms with them, and allow the important people in her life to shoulder some of that burden. 

Nightmares were terrifying, but only to prove that your resolve was far stronger.

But, now he was gone, and there was nothing that she could do. 

She couldn’t thank him for making her come to terms with her own pain.

She couldn’t tell him that he wasn’t a bad Pokemon.

She couldn’t tell him...that she wanted to be his friend. 

And that’s what hurt the most.

“Darkrai…?” Juliet feebly called out.

Silence.

At the corner of her eye, she swore she saw a shadow slick past outside of her balcony, making her leap out of the bed and pull back the curtains. 

The only thing she saw was the rising sun peaking over the horizon, welcoming a new dawn and a new day. The sight only made her heart ache even further, rubbing salt in an already stinging wound of who was gone. 

Clutching the curtains as she sank to the floor, “Good bye, Darkrai.”

Unknown to her, Darkrai was watching her from a distance, but not for long.

**“Good bye, Champion Juliet.”**

* * *

“That Pincurchin you caught is really cute, Hop!” Gloria giggled, stirring their large pot of curry while their Pokemon roamed about in the snowy landscape. Hop was knelt down in front of the sea urchin Pokemon, trying to wrestle a Pokeball rubber ball from her mouth. 

“She is, isn’t she? I found her when I was training up my team before taking on Circhester gym. She’s a feisty one.” His Pincurchin finally let go of the ball, letting him toss it not too far and watched her shuffle after it. 

The Gym Challenge was approaching the final stretch with only two more badges left, with only a handful of Challengers left in the competition, which was a stark contrast to the countless number of Challengers that were at the Opening Ceremonies. Hop felt...relieved that he could get this far. 

Wait, relieved? He meant ‘confident’ because of course he could get this far! He was going to stay true to his goals of following his older brother’s footsteps of becoming Champion. That’s what he spent the Gym Challenge, and years prior, training for. 

Still...there were plenty of things he was still doubtful of. One of them being that he had been so indecisive about who he should add to his final team, trying out different Pokemon and strategies that would bring out his strength the most. Sure it took him this long to finally settle on a team, but the important thing was that he found his team - it didn’t matter how long it took. He took Juliet’s words to heart, of battling his way, and he smiled fondly when her team showed their support after he got the Ice and Rock badge. 

But, even then, he couldn’t help but glance at Gloria, who was taste testing their curry, oblivious to his stare. 

Gloria, his childhood friend and best friend...He still couldn’t beat her even with the team he had full faith in. Even at the start, she went into battles so sure of herself, so sure of her Pokemon, that her victory was guaranteed before the battle was even over. How does she do it? What does she have that he didn’t?

He couldn’t figure it out, and he felt an impending dread knowing that she was going to be the hardest competitor in the Champion Cup. 

He clenched his fist. No, he wasn’t going to overthink it and crumble now! There were two badges left until the Champion Cup. There was still time to get stronger and hopefully surpass Gloria. 

He’ll think about his brother’s words from before when it got to that point but, for now he needed to focus on himself. 

“You look lost in thought, Hop. Is everything OK? Bede didn’t say anything rubbish to you, did he?” Gloria asked. 

_Bede._ The one who stomped all over his confidence and ideals, and made him second guess everything he had been doing. When Leon told him that Bede had been disqualified, it felt like a thorn was removed from his side, and he didn’t have to be paranoid about future encounters with him. In the same regard, feeling that way made Hop question his own sportsmanship even if the consequences of what Bede did was justified. He couldn’t bring himself to hate Bede - he had his own goals like him, even if he went about it the wrong way. 

“No, I haven’t seen him in awhile. Didn’t you say something about him being dragged off by Opal?”

“It was pretty strange, but seeing as how Opal’s mission is to find a successor to her Gym, maybe she saw potential in him?” Gloria whistled to all of their Pokemon that the curry was ready, and began to fill plates up with their lunch. “This is going to sound a little weird but, it’s kind of thanks to him that Sonia is making great progress in her research about the Darkest Day. I still wonder why the mural was hiding something so important.”

“Your guess is as good as mine, mate. But at this rate, Sonia will be a Professor in no time!” He pulled his winter jacket closer to himself and graciously accepted his plate of curry and stood close to the still-roaring fire, feeling the warmth of his body steadily returning to him in the cold of Route 9. 

Was...Hop so cold that he was starting to see things? As he was about to take a bite out of his curry, at the corner of his eyes he saw Bea and Kabu jogging through the snowy path in nothing but their League uniforms, which made him drop his spoon straight into his curry from disbelief. 

“Aren’t you two cold?!” He gawked. Bea and Kabu whipped their heads in the midst of their training and jogged over to where they were camping, clearly unfazed by the frigid temperatures. 

“Good afternoon, Gloria, Hop. How is your training for the Champion Cup coming along?”

“That’s my line!!”

“Aren’t you two underdressed for this weather?” As if to remind them of where they were, Gloria exhaled hot air into her hands, and watched her breath puff and disappear into the air. 

“Our training is keeping our body temperatures up. Besides, we both train out here when it’s the final stretch of the Gym Challenge.” Bea defended, despite rubbing her hands together to warm them. 

“Indeed. Since this is our last opportunity to train up before we go head-to-head at the Champion Cup, we need to push our bodies to the limit.” Kabu added. 

Hop’s face scrunched up. For a second, he entertained the idea of taking a page out of their book to see if he could get results from their way of training, but he shivered on their behalf despite sitting in front of a fire in a winter jacket. 

“Is...Is it working?”

“We’re only getting started but we were just about to settle down for lunch after a few more laps.”

“Why don’t you have lunch with us? We have a lot of leftover curry left!” Gloria invited, already scooping curry on two more plates. 

“If that’s ok, thank you for the food. We’re just going to grab our warmer clothes. Even we’ll get cold from not moving around.” Bea chuckled. 

When the two Gym Leaders returned, they all huddled against their warmest Pokemon while they sat around the campfire eating their curry while catching each other up on everything that happened from the mural collapsing, the explosion that shook Hammerlocke, and now their topic of conversation moved to the upcoming concert being held in Spikemuth to rev everyone up for the end of the Gym Challenge, and the start of the Champion Cup.

“Are you two going to the concert at Spikemuth next week?” Gloria asked. “Hop and I have never watched Piers perform live so we’re really excited!”

“Hmmm...I think I’m past my prime to enjoy those kinds of concerts.” Kabu admitted. 

“Awww, what do you mean, Kabu? Piers’ music can be enjoyed by anyone and it’d be great to see all of the Gym Leaders together like at Juliet’s birthday party.” 

“Well, the nightlife in Spikemuth is pretty mature, isn’t it? Allister and I are honestly a bit intimidated about going.” Bea added hesitantly. 

“Then, why don’t you and Allister join us? I think it’ll feel a lot less lonely if we stick together!” Gloria encouraged her. 

“If that’s OK, then alright! Though…” Bea looked down at her clothes. “Do we have to dress up for the occasion?”

“Oh. That’s a good point.” Hop crossed his arms. “Does that mean Lee is going to dress up?” He couldn’t really imagine his hard working brother dressing up to blend in with the punk aesthetic of Spikemuth. Picturing him wearing leather jackets or accessories with spikes and chains was...unsettling. Then his mind wandered to what he would look like in punk clothing and that’s when he realized he was thinking too hard about it. 

“I don’t think it’s that serious, Hop.” Gloria giggled. “But, it might be fun to do some shopping!”

“Ugh, can we not?”

* * *

“How about this, Leon? I think this would look good on you-”

“...I don’t know. Seems kind of intense for someone like me.”

“Stop being so wishy washy!” Raihan groaned, putting away the 10th jacket he picked out for Leon that he rejected without even trying it on. 

He was _not_ going to possibly let his best friend go to a concert underdressed, especially since this was the first time in a while that Leon could let himself loose for the night. Well, whatever that entailed. The Champion took his job so seriously and earnestly that Raihan couldn’t imagine him being some sort of party animal. 

Leon needed this, but he needed to do it in _style._

“Are you guys still looking? Normally us girls take longer to shop, yet Nessa and I already got our outfits. She went off to take an important phone call. ” Sonia sighed, strolling up to them with an armful of shopping bags, which was indicative that she had bought more than just one outfit. 

Raihan snorted. “Got the whole accessory aisle in those bags?”

“Hey, at least I’m decisive!” Sonia turned to Leon, who was aimlessly going through the racks of jackets for who knows how many times already. His fashion sense wasn’t terrible but he didn’t really have the keen eye for aesthetics or what would look good on him. It didn’t help that he had to wear his Champion gear so often too.

“Geez, make up your mind already, Leon! Here, let me help. I think having a woman’s opinion will get the job done.”

“And, somehow my opinion isn’t good enough?” Raihan replied, raising a hand to his chest in mock disgust. 

“I’ll need your help too, Raihan, don’t worry.” Sonia put her hand on her hip and pointed at Leon, as if making a grand declaration. “Leon! We’re going to get you spiffed up so at least try on the outfits this time! Clothes aren’t just about how they look, it’s also about how they feel.”

And with that, Sonia grabbed his arm and practically dragged him around the store, picking out clothes for him to try on, and then shoving them into his chest for him to hang on to. Raihan trailed behind, very much amused by how his best friend was taking Sonia’s assertiveness in dressing him up. He should probably keep an eye out for something for himself as well, though perhaps an accessory since he already had plenty of outfits at home for going out. 

“Alright, in you go!” Sonia announced, shoving Leon into an empty changeroom with hangers of clothes piling precariously in his arms. 

Maybe...this was one too many outfits to try on. 

He didn’t really want to protest, figuring that Sonia wasn’t going to have any of it. He carefully pulled away each outfit and hung them up neatly so he could see all of the clothes at once and mix and match them up. He...didn’t know where to start. What did Raihan do to get inspiration? He followed a lot of fashion accounts on both Pokegram and Chatoter so maybe that was a good starting point? 

Leon probably spent, what would normally be too long, in the change room but after trying on different combinations of clothing and getting his friends’ input, he put together an outfit that he felt complete confidence in. He stepped out of the change room one last time for his friends to give him one final look over. He decided on a maroon bomber jacket over a plain black t-shirt with ripped black jeans and black converse shoes. He had also picked out some aviator glasses for that extra ‘cool’ factor. Overall, nothing too over the top, but nothing too plain either. It was perfect for him. Raihan whistled immediately, pleased by what his best friend came up with and slapped him on the back. 

“Looking good, mate. Everyone will be flying themselves at you for sure.”

“I don’t want to attract that much attention, Raihan.” Leon chuckled. 

“Kind of impossible when it’s you, Leon.” Sonia said, rolling her eyes. 

“Are you going to do something with your hair? You should slick your bangs back or tie your hair up.” Raihan suggested with a sly grin. “Might as well go all the way, right?”

Curiously, Leon brushed his bangs back. “Like this?”

“Obviously with hair gel but yeah, something like that! Wear some bling and you’re practically a casanova.”

Leon brushed his bangs back over his forehead and waved dismissively at the comment with a grimace. “You make me sound like a pimp.”

“Good point - especially since you have your eyes set on someone already.” Raihan mentioned smugly. Leon chose to ignore the comment, but he couldn’t hide the light blush that crept on his cheeks. 

“You think Juliet’s into the bad boy look?” Sonia giggled. 

“Leon? A bad boy? Good one, Sonia.”

“OK, OK. I’m going to change back and buy these.” Leon huffed, effectively ending the topic of conversation. 

Watching Leon walk back into the change room, Raihan had an idea formulating in his mind and shot a side glance to Sonia. Seeing the mischievous intent in his eyes made her sigh exasperatedly. “ _Raihan._ ”

“Come on, all he needs is a little push.”

* * *

“Darkrai’s gone? What do you mean he’s gone?!” 

“I don’t really know how to make it any clearer than that.” Juliet grumbled, mindlessly pressing her feet against the pedal of the bass drum in a random rhythm to get her mind away from the feeling of loss. She was finally free, but she only felt heavier, feeling powerless knowing that she couldn’t reach out to help someone like how other people in her life had reached out to help her during her darkest days. 

Their first few days of practising for Piers’ show came and went without any problems, aside from fumbling with the unfamiliar instruments assigned to them - their practice sessions grew in productivity as the date of the show came closer. They didn’t need to practice too much because they were only required to play one song, but seeing as though they weren’t trained as musicians, there was a lot of nuance to performing that they wanted to refine as much as possible. 

Or as Piers explained it, they had to develop their stage presence or find their ‘muse’. 

It was hardly a time to slack off now because her heart wasn’t into it. 

“Isn’t that...technically a good thing? He was giving you trouble, wasn’t he?” Vanquil wondered, plucking at his guitar’s strings with a guitar pick. 

“He was at first, but I wanted to help him from the things he showed me. All his life he was labelled as a bad Pokemon when all he wanted was someone to see him as something other than that label...” Juliet didn’t mean to hit the drum cymbal as hard as she did, and she let out something akin to a battle cry of frustration on top of it. 

“Poor Darkrai...I guess it must be hard having the powers that he has.” Mary trailed off sadly. 

“I’m here, everyone! Hopefully we’ll get another good day of behind-the-scenes foot-wait, what’s wrong, Juliet?” Phil asked, entering the studio, holding a camcorder with a microphone attached. He held up the camcorder in her direction. “Stumped on a section?”

“No, it’s not that…”

“What’s with the gloomy atmosphere?” Piers asked as well with a tall water bottle in hand. He looked in Juliet’s direction, likely because she was practically slumped over the drum set as if she was being physically weighed down by something. Though, he didn’t seem surprised and pulled up a chair to sit by the drum set. 

“What’s got you all doom and gloom, Juliet?”

“Piers…” There was hardly any time to give him that long winded version of everything that happened, but he probably understood better than anyone of how conflicted feelings can hold you back from playing, or singing, your best. “I’ll give you the short version. It feels like...I lost someone important, and it feels like it’s my fault for not doing enough to make them stay.”

Piers raised an eyebrow. “You get dumped by someone?”

She mentally facepalmed. Her fault for not choosing her words better. “No, nothing like that. What I meant to say is, I couldn’t help someone who was hurting and now that they’re gone, there’s no way I can help them now.”

“Ah, I got the picture now. To be honest, the best thing I can say is to let it go. Let them go. Even if you tell yourself that you could have done more, the fact of the matter is that you did somethin’.” Piers gestured to her to lift up her head to look at him. “Look, each of us has issues we’re dealin’ with, and it’d be nice if we had answers to all of our problems. And while we can try to fix each other up, you can’t fix everyone.”

“Even if the person leaves, probably feeling worse than they did before?” Juliet retorted bitterly. 

“Sometimes life is goin’ to kick us when we’re already down, but there’s only so much hand holdin’ you can do. They need to trust in their own strength to pick themselves back up and heal by their own means.” Piers pointed at the various Spikemuth logos that were plastered all over the studio. “Remember how I told you how I blame myself for what my town became? All that time I spent mopin’ about the past, could be used to move on and find solutions to bring glory back to Spikemuth.”

Moping about the past...Yeah, that sounded about right. As much as she wished she could have done more for Darkrai, she had already spent so much time clinging to her past that she was barely moving forward. Maybe she had been convincing herself this whole time that helping Darkrai move on, would let her move on as well, when she should have been actively trying to move on for her own benefit, rather than rely on a scapegoat. 

The only reason that she should move on, is for herself. 

“Let it go, huh…”

“Easier said than done, I get it. As a singer, I run into walls all the time with my music because even I second-guess myself. Is what I’m doin’ really helpin’ Spikemuth? Questions like that. But, results don’t come overnight, and healin’ takes time. For now, cut yourself some slack and enjoy the music. Be free.” Piers grabbed the remote sitting on one of the stereos and fired up a song that none of them recognized. It wasn’t one of the songs that was in the set list, nor was it the song they were expected to play.

It had an upbeat tempo, which was notably different from his usual songs. 

That didn’t stop Piers from grabbing his mic and singing along with the track. 

_“Marmalade & sugar song, peanuts & bitter step, it's sweet and bitter and my head seems to be spinning around. Let's head for south-southwest and keep the party going on, it will be a night to amaze the whole world. I feel fantastic; form a chain and reflect~!” _

When the chorus kicked in, all of them had their toes tapping to the beat, letting themselves get swept away by Piers’ singing and carefree melody. Phil couldn’t help but grin at their impromptu jam session and moved all around the studio, capturing each of them playing at their own leisure, regardless of how bad it really sounded. 

_“Someday, even if madness holds its breath. Someday, even if reasonings lose their meaning. Feeling song & step, the way our sound keeps on ringing out, is the proof that shows we are what we are, QED~!” _

“Play along!” Piers sang. The team looked at each other, confusion written all over on their faces because they weren’t exactly skilled enough to play along to a song they didn’t even know-

“Let yourselves go and just have fun!”

They hesitantly picked up their assigned instruments and tried to play along. Emphasis on ‘tried’. It was obvious to anyone that they weren’t playing well at all, but it didn’t really matter in the moment. Every wrong chord, note, and rhythm that strummed, pressed, and banged from their instruments was every worry, anxiety, and fear that they were letting go. 

It was _liberating._

When the song ended, Vanquil did a dramatic riff while sliding down on his knees across the floor, which made them all burst into fits of giggles and laughter at how much fun it was to just play without a care in the world. 

“So, Juliet,” Piers heaved. “How do you feel now?”

“I feel.. Really great, to be honest.” Juliet huffed, setting down her drumsticks to shake off the adrenaline that was still buzzing in her veins. “Is that a new song you wrote? It sounds completely different from your usual stuff!”

“I wanted to try somethin’ different. It doesn’t hurt to shake things up every once in a while. I wrote this song a while back, but I’ve never played it live.”

“How come? It’s so fun, though! I think it’d be a great song to play if the crowd asks for an encore!” Tessu squealed excitedly. 

“You think so? I guess I’m a bit worried by what people will think of it since it’s not my usual style-”

“Hey, you said it yourself to ‘let yourselves go and have fun’!” Vanquil chuckled. “I think it would be a nice surprise for everyone who comes.”

“Are you lot OK with it? You’ll have to learn how to play a new song in that case.” Piers questioned worryingly. 

“I-I want to learn how to play it! It’s a fun song to play with everyone, even if we sounded kind of terrible there.” Mary giggled. 

“Let’s do it, then!” Juliet cheered, raising her drumsticks up into the air. Piers looked at the enthusiastic band and sighed. He didn’t know who was more troublesome - this band of Team Yell. He smiled at the thought. 

He couldn’t bring himself to ever hate either of them. They were good people, albeit tiring to deal with at times. 

* * *

In the underground power plant, the creature that was stuck inside of it’s chamber was now conscious, swimming about in the liquid it was contained in and occasionally letting out a deafening screech that for some reason would take out the power of the lab momentarily. It was quite a nuisance, which was why the scientists and researchers made every effort to calm the creature so it wouldn’t disrupt their work. 

Chairman Rose entered the lab, making everyone in the lab pause what they were doing to acknowledge his presence out of respect before diligently returning to their work. He stopped in front of the creature’s chamber with growing interest as it moved about, displaying every inch of its skeletal like spikes and membranes for all to examine. For a moment, the creature even stopped to glance over in Rose’s direction. That’s what he gathered, anyway. It was hard to tell with how...inconclusive its anatomy was. 

“Chairman Rose.” A scientist greeted with a courtesy nod. 

“Well?” 

“It seems our hypothesis is correct. This creature is likely linked to the Darkest Day phenomenon that occurred 3000 years ago. On top of it having the highest power of Dynamax like nothing else, it’s so powerful that its presence alone can cause electrical interference.”

“Hm. That would explain some power outage reports in Hammerlocke.” Chairman Rose hummed. “Do keep that in check. I don’t want any workers outside of Macro Cosmos to snoop in here.”

“Yes, sir. And...if I may?” 

“You have something else to report?”

“To make things easier for us when talking about this creature, we’ve decided to call it Eternatus. Will that suffice?” The scientist asked. “The reasoning behind it is the fact that it has lived for so long that it’s practically immortal.”

“Eternatus...Eternal…” Chairman whispered to himself. “A suitable name. Good work.”

“Thank you very much, sir. The experiments for next week are to move forward as planned?”

“Yes. I’ll be sure to have Leon on standby so do not worry about the civilians.” 

The scientist nodded in acknowledgement before leaving to attend other business with his employees. Oleana approached Chairman Rose with her phone in hand, and she didn’t look too pleased. “Chairman. It seems that Bede has been successfully transferred to Opal’s custody.”

“And? You don’t look too happy about it.”

“Well, pardon if this is out of line but, are you sure you’re OK with this?”

“Yes. I think this will be good for him. Perhaps I was asking too much of him that he got too carried away with his duties.” Chairman Rose smiled gently. 

“I trust that Opal will shape him into a fine successor for the Fairy Gym.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late regular chapter update! I couldn't help but show off my weeb self a little bit more during Pier's impromptu jam session. Recognize the song lyrics? It's called Sugar Song to Bitter Step! It's a really catchy tune so I recommend looking it up!
> 
> This is far from the last time we'll see Darkrai and it's only the beginning! 
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading this chapter and feel free to leave a kudos and or a comment if you'd like!


	17. Perfect Harmony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of the highly anticipated Spikemuth concert has arrived and the whole region of Galar is in high spirits as the evening filled with musical fun is getting started.

**Chapter 12 - Perfect Harmony**

****

* * *

_ In the field of silver grass and under the starlit sky, Juliet wanders through the fields, peacefully enjoying the blades of ethereal grass tickling her ankles and the gentle breeze blowing through her ebony hair. Even though Darkrai was gone, her head would whirl around just in case he was lurking somewhere - but he was nowhere to be seen. _

_ She missed their talks.  _

_ She missed him.  _

_ Then, the field of silver grass opened up to a field full of bundles of small blue flowers. Small on their own, but beautiful and harmonious when paired with others of its kind. They stuck together like family. Like friends.  _

_ Forget-me-nots. A flower of longing and remembrance.  _

_ But in the center of the endless field of forget-me-nots, was a little girl, with a small flower crown, made up of those very flowers, sitting on top of her head. Juliet couldn’t tell if it was her younger self but she approached her quietly, until the little girl turned around. Her bright blue eyes bore into her own. They were the same as hers, but somehow different at the same time.  _

_ This girl wasn’t her younger self.  _

_ She couldn’t forget that face. Instead of it being contorted in pain like she remembered, the little girl beamed at her warmly and held up another flower crown she had been working on, like nothing was wrong.  _

_ “Hello!” _

_ “H-Hi…”  _

_ “Are you here to play with me?” _

_ She didn’t exactly plan to. This was her dream after all and she didn’t expect to see anyone else since Darkrai had left. It was almost frustrating how easily other entities were snooping into her conscious. First a Pokemon, and now, apparently a ghost - if she was even a ghost at all.  _

_ “Yeah, I’m here to play. Nice flower crown.” _

_ “Thank you! You can have this one.” The little girl stretched her small arms out, wanting to put the crown on Juliet’s head. Juliet bowed her head until the crown was sitting comfortably on her head.  _

_ “How do I look?” _

_ “You look like a princess!”  _

_ “A princess?” _

_ “Yeah! Do I look like a princess?” _

_ In her opinion, Juliet didn’t really have the qualities that befit a princess at all. She wasn’t a huge fan of wearing dresses herself, but she had an aesthetic appreciation for them, preferring to see them on other people than herself.  _

_ But even then, there was something magical about there being strength in one’s outer and inner beauty.  _

_ “You do. And you’re wearing a lovely dress to go with it. May I ask for your name, your highness?” _

_ The little girl giggled joyfully. “Maya. And you’re Juliet, right? A pretty name for a fellow princess!” _

_ “And, if I may ask, what brings you to my land of dreams, Princess Maya?” _

_ “I’m looking for my Prince Charming!” _

_ Prince...Charming? In her dreams? Was this little girl serious? _

_ “Ummm...I don’t think you’ll find him here.” _

_ “But, I have! In your memories!” Maya twirled around in the field of forget-me-nots, dancing through the whirlwind of blue petals. “He’s tall, handsome, kind, and strong! He’s the perfect prince!” _

_ In her memories? What did she mean by that? Tall, handsome, kind, and strong? Those were pretty vague qualities that so many people she met could have- _

_ “You know exactly who I’m talking about! I’ve seen it! You’ve kissed him before!” _

_... _

**_WHAT._ **

_ Juliet sputtered, her face bright red at the outlandish claim. “W-W-W-What are you talking about?! I haven’t kissed anyone!” _

_ “You did! How can you forget something so romantic? You two kissed under the raining stars…” Maya sighed dreamily. “I want a prince like that…” _

_ “Who are you talking about?!” _

_ “You mean the prince’s name? His name is Le-” _

* * *

**_BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP_ **

Oh for the love of - why did she always wake up at the  _ least _ opportune time?! It didn’t make a difference either way because it didn’t take a genius to put the pieces together of who Maya was talking about. Sitting up in her bed, Juliet clutched her burning cheeks in disbelief.

She...She...kissed…

She  _ kissed _ Leon before?!

Why did Maya say such a thing? If she couldn’t remember the moment herself then that must have meant-

Maya was likely linked to the gaps in her memory. But, why? First Darkrai, and now this?! Why did the world want from her?! Every time Juliet felt closer to finally being at peace, something always had to pop up to throw her through another hundred loops. 

And now she had some suppressed...romantic feelings to potentially deal with on top of everything else? Arceus, how many years were already shaved off from her lifespan from stress alone?

She didn’t drink, but in that moment, she would  _ gladly _ take anything to make her forget everything momentarily just to relax and not have to deal with the whirlwind of emotions that were spiralling out of control in her head. . 

“Trapinch?” Pistachio called out. He climbed onto her bed and rolled over on his back, silently requesting his owner for some tummy rubs. Not just for his pleasure, but for hers as well. Juliet sighed years worth of stress before relenting and scratching her Pokemon’s stomach to get her mind off of her mind-melting thoughts. Her baby Trapinch, adorable and didn’t have a care in the world-

“I wish I was like you, Pistachio.”

As much as she wanted to stay in bed with her baby Trapinch on her lap, tonight was the long-awaited concert that everyone in Galar was waiting for. It was unsurprisingly going to be a full house, but the whole event would be streamed for people at home to watch on their TVs, computers, or mobile devices. Afterwards, just like with the other gyms, there was going to be a special program covering behind the scenes footage that Phil took of their practices and answering music related questions. 

It was still hours before the concert but her team agreed that squeezing in a few more practices couldn’t hurt. It would also give them a chance to play and get comfortable in their stage outfits that were tailored made and designed just for them. The producers really went all out to make them feel and look like a real band despite their obvious inexperience. 

Regardless of how it was going to turn out, it was going to be a fun night for everyone involved. 

…

_ Hopefully. _

* * *

Evening had finally fallen over the Galar region and the streets were already bursting with life with people parading around with glow sticks and other Pokemon League memorabilia in preparation for the concert that would start in just an hour. It seemed like the concert was pushed and promoted far more than anyone expected, with large jumbo screens being installed in every major city so those who didn’t want to be stuck in their homes could come out to enjoy the music with their neighbours. 

Concert goers were already piling into Spikemuth, the excitement evident on their faces as they cruised through the various stalls that were set up specifically to sell band t-shirts and albums by Piers. The high energy emanating from everyone arriving was practically bouncing off every building and it was an understatement to say that the band in the back didn’t find it intimidating. High energy, also meant high expectations. And they sincerely hoped they could deliver. 

They weren’t even set to play until the end so they could enjoy the pre-festivities beforehand, but going through the crowds was going to test their nerves. This was far different from their first day of work at the start of the Gym Challenge, but they were going to have a good time. 

“Let’s go out and enjoy the night before the concert starts! To get rid of our nerves, you know?” Tessu suggested eagerly.

Vanquil turned to Juliet and Mary. “And let us know if you two need to dip. It might get too noisy or exciting after all.”

Juliet pulled out an earplug from her ears. “Way ahead of you, Van. I can still hear you guys but it should help with blocking out most of the noise so I don’t get overstimulated. You’ll have to come over and tap on my shoulder if I’m far away, though.”

“Good call - does Mary have a pair?”

“Mhm. And I also have a stress ball, just in case.” Mary added assuringly. 

“Then, if everything’s OK, let’s go!” Tessu pushed through the backstage door and saluted at the bodyguard who was already stationed at the back of the venue. They acknowledged the group with affirmative nods before weaving through the waves of people to take a look at some of the stalls and keeping an eye out for anyone they knew. 

It was a slightly different experience to go through the crowds without being able to hear passing conversations or the music that could be felt by the rumbling bass coming from the stereos stationed throughout the town. It was a relief for Juliet’s audio overstimulation, but she couldn’t help but feel like she was missing out on experiences from not being able to handle more party-like atmospheres. But, even if she couldn’t fully hear and handle the hustle and bustle, she couldn’t help but smile at the positive vibes that everyone was exuding from their enthusiasm and the smiles on their faces. 

She was, ironically, distracted by the silence in her ears that only served to amplify the voices of her own thoughts, that she ended up bumping face first into someone’s chest. A not-so-nice reminder of how short she was despite wearing platform boots. 

“I’m sorry-” She apologized, but immediately froze upon lifting her head to see who it was. She didn’t recognize him immediately by the aviator sunglasses and how his bangs were slicked back, but the tell-tale lilac hair could only belong to one person. 

And the realization made her heart flutter, much to her chagrin. 

Juliet blabbed something incomprehensible before taking a big step back to keep her distance. “H-Hey, Lee.”

Leon slowly took off his aviator sunglasses, revealing his widened eyes as he stared at her from head to toe. She felt unconscious being stared at so intently, and she couldn’t tell if it was for a good reason or not. She didn’t really have a say in the design of her outfit. The waist-length sleeveless biker jacket that framed over her satin blue dress wasn’t her usual style and she certainly didn’t wear many form fitting outfits either. 

“Pretty weird, huh?” She remarked sheepishly.

“No, no, no! That’s not what I think at all!” He cleared his throat, the blush on his cheeks spreading to his ears. Leon mentally slapped himself for being so awkward and hesitant. This was his chance to be smooth but he was already failing! He straightened his back and puffed up his jacket. 

Here goes nothing...

“You look cute tonight.” He flirted with a wink. 

Did...Did she  _ hear _ that right? Or maybe her earplugs were pushed in too much that she was just imagining what he was saying-

But the wink-! The only other time he acted this... _ suave _ was during the photoshoot, but she thought that was just a persona. She didn’t know he was actually capable of being charming in that sense outside of work. 

Not that she didn’t think he wasn’t handsome or attractive or-

Arceus, where was her mind even  _ going?! _

“O-Oh…” She muttered, averting her gaze. “T-Thanks.” She snuck in a few side glances at his outfit, thinking of a witty comeback to say to diffuse the awkward tension while still being genuine about how  _ good _ he looked. 

And, she would daresay,  _ hot _ , even.

“You’re quite the sight for sore eyes yourself. Though, I don’t see any signs of a motorcycle.”

His laugh relieved the tension that hung over their heads, sounding light and carefree towards her light teasing. “Can’t really drive a motorcycle in this crowd. But, thanks. Sonia and Raihan helped me pick it out.”

“...So? Would you say you ate your words that these clothes didn’t suit you?” Juliet asked coyly with the tilt of her head. 

He stepped closer to her, eyebrow raised, and a smirk tugged on his lips. “And what about you? I think you’re just as guilty.”

“Well,” Juliet started off innocently. She did a single twirl, enjoying how the frills of her satin dressed followed elegantly. “I didn’t really have a say in what I would be wearing and I probably would have protested.”

“And now?”

“...I like it.” Juliet admitted cheekily. 

Leon grinned. He definitely liked it too. “I’m glad. That’s the important part! Anyway, as much as I’d like to stay in chat, I should say hi to the others before the show starts and I’m going to lose them in the crowd. I’ll talk to you later?”

“Sure, but…”

The Champion pointed to his ears and looked at her sympathetically. “Tessu and Vanquil filled me in. It’s OK. There’s a nice lounge with VIP rooms that we always go to that has billiards and dart boards too. I’m not really a party animal myself.”

Juliet let out a sigh of relief. “That...That doesn’t sound so bad, then.”

“You’ll like it. They also have a pretty good mocktail menu since I know you and Mary don’t drink, right? There’s something for everyone.”

She smiled gently at how considerate he was towards their needs and preferences. And he wasn’t condescending about it either, unlike other snobby adults who’d scoff and laugh when she’d tell them that she just wasn’t interested. Or as they often called her, a ‘party pooper’ or ‘the boring one’. 

It wasn’t just her who encountered this either. 

Being an adult was a pain. 

“That sounds great, Lee! I’ll catch you later, then!” Juliet turned on her heels to leave when Leon grabbed her wrist. She looked at him owlishly especially when he leaned in to her ear. 

“Break a leg.” He leaned back and held his fist out to her with a playful smile. She giggled and bumped her fist against his before disappearing back into the crowds to head to the main stage. 

* * *

“It’s almost time - you know what that means.”

“Uhh…”

Vanquil pulled them all into a huddle and beamed excitedly at his friends. “Don’t band mates get together in a huddle to say a few words before the show starts? Like a good luck pep talk!”

“I thought they put their hands in the centre and then lift them up.” Tessu hummed curiously. 

“Same thing. Anyway, do you have anything to say, leader?” Vanquil looked to Juliet. Juliet quirked her eyebrows confusingly before turning to Mary.

“I thought Mary was the leader for this.”

“But, you give better pep talks…” Mary countered sheepishly. 

“OK, OK, just give me a moment.” Juliet stepped back from the huddle and threw a peace sign out in the middle. “We’ve practiced hard but more than just playing the right notes, let’s make sure to give the crowd one hell of a good time! That’s what music is all about, right?”

Her teammates nodded confidently and threw down their own peace signs, connecting them with her own so it formed the outline of their team’s iconic symbol. They basked in a moment of silence, letting their nerves settle and feeling their synergy resonate with each other. 

Mary’s kind spirit.

Tessu’s energetic spirit.

Vanquil’s fiery spirit. 

Juliet’s easy-going spirit. 

“Let’s go!” Juliet announced before they all raised their peace signs to the heavens. They followed one of the security guards to the area leading up to the main stage and waited for their cue by Piers once the current song drifted off to an end. The crowd showed no signs of stopping, all of them up on their feet and waving their glow sticks in applause at Piers’ performances. 

“Thank you,” Piers heaved lightly into the mic from fatigue. But the show must go on. It was the last song of the set and he was going to go all out. When he grabbed the mic, all the lights in the city turned off, making the concert goers look to each other worryingly. 

But, it was staged. 

In midst of the confusion, Raid Prism tiptoed on stage, being mindful of the darkness, and took their places with their instruments. 

Piers pressed his ear piece. “Everyone ready?”

“Born ready.” They whispered back affirmatively. Piers smirked at their bold choice of words. 

“Music to my ears.” 

When the music kicked off, fog began to settle across the stage and into the audience, before the stage lights flared to life, lighting up the stage and revealing the band in all their glory. The crowd went wild at the reveal, switching their colours of their glow sticks to the corresponding colour of a member in Raid Prism. 

It was a sight to behold that it was almost dizzying. The sea of people that flooded the venue was lit up with colourful lights of blue, purple, orange, red, and pink, and everyone in attendance was waving their light sticks to the rhythm of the song. Their hearts swelled immensely at the sight. It was like they were performing for the stars themselves.

Juliet couldn’t tell if her heart was pounding, or if her drums were literally shaking her down to the core. Maybe it was both? Either way, the adrenaline pumping in her veins was nothing short of exhilarating and any exhaustion she’d probably feel by now was non-existent. Exchanging glances with her team only made her more energized.

Looking out into the crowd, she wondered how many people were waving light sticks with her colour? She wanted to thank them personally for showing her their support. Seeing the faces of fans felt so different than seeing them behind a screen, under an alias. 

It made them feel  _ real _ . Their support was  _ real. _

Even with all the trolls and negativity, she didn’t see any hostility in the eyes of the fans who came. No one came to pick fights or bring each other down-

Everyone who came, and everyone who was watching elsewhere, wanted to have a good time. 

And they were. 

She smiled brightly at the realization and somehow, met a pair of golden eyes amongst the crowd. And he was holding a blue light stick to boot. Leon’s amber eyes lit up in acknowledgement when they met her bright blue, and she couldn’t help but stick out her tongue and send a playful wink in his direction. By the looks of it, he laughed and winked right back at her. 

Her heart thumped even harder against her chest. 

When the song came to an end, confetti shot out from cannons and rained over the entire crowd as they erupted into cheers and applause. The band looked at each other with elation across their faces before bowing their heads to the cheering audience. 

“Give it up for Raid Prism, everyone!” Piers boomed into the mic, making the crowd cheer even louder than before. 

“Now, that was technically the last song for tonight but, somethin’ tells me you all haven’t had enough yet.” Piers hinted with a knowing smile. The audience responded in kind, devolving into chants of ‘encore!’, expectantly waiting for one final performance.

They didn’t need to be persuaded any further. 

But instead of just Piers singing the song from when he first revealed it to them, he opened the floor for them to join in as well - even going as far as to divide the lyrics for each of them to have their own fun. 

They played and danced the night away, even long after the crowd disbanded and their instruments were put away.

* * *

The lounge that Leon mentioned was a lot cozier than what he described. It was dimly lit, but not with colourful neon lights that one would expect from a nightclub or even a bar - it had an atmosphere that made you feel like you were at home, and the gentle jazz tracks that played throughout the lounge only made the place more comfortable.

“Cozy, ain’t it?” Piers noted with a lazy smile. “This is the perfect place to go to unwind after a concert like that. I have the whole place booked so kick back and relax.”

Mary let out a grateful sigh. “Thank you, Piers. It was getting a little overwhelming when fans came rushing up for autographs and selfies.”

“Not to mention people were even hitting on us.” Tessu shuddered. “Though, you didn’t seem bothered by that Vanquil.”

“I didn’t mind the attention…” Vanquil admitted, blushing lightly and looking to the side. 

“Why don’t we share a toast for the killer show before the others get here?” Piers grabbed two different menus from the bar counter and handed it to them. One menu had obvious alcoholic drinks from wine, cocktails, and beer; and the other menu had alcohol free drinks like mocktails, soft-drinks, and even coffee and tea. 

After mulling over the menus with indecisiveness, they’ve finally decided on their respective drinks and clinked their glasses right before the other adults piled into the lounge with invigorated smiles on their faces. Even after an hour of music, dancing, and lights, some of them looked like they were only getting started. 

Upon spotting Piers, Raihan came up to him and slung his arm around his shoulder to give him congratulatory pats, ignoring how the singer’s face twisted in mild disdain by the Dragon Gym Leader’s casual and openly affectionate nature. “Great show as always, Piers.”

“Thanks. But, give them credit too.”

“You’re right.” Raihan turned to the band and stared at each of them from head to toe, shamelessly appreciating each of their outfits and looks. He shot them a flirty wink.

“You guys were great too. And you look great to boot.”

Piers shrugged off his arm and huffed, unimpressed by the taller man’s shameless  _ flirting. _ “Are you smashed already?”

“Relax, mate. I had one beer before coming here. Rose needs me for something tomorrow so I’m limiting myself tonight.” Raihan pouted. “He’s been doing a lot of experiments lately and even people are coming to me asking me if I know anything.”

“Experiments?” Juliet asked curiously. 

“Yeah. He’s been spending a lot of time down at the Power Plant in Hammerlocke and won’t tell me a lick about it. It’s located under my Gym so you’d think he’d throw me a bone or something.” 

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about that.” Leon piped in, entering their circle with a pint of beer in his hands. “Has the Chairman  _ really _ not told you anything?”

“Trust me, if he did, you’d be the first one to know, mate.” Normally Raihan would shrug off his worries about matters that probably didn’t involve him, but he felt partially responsible for some of the anomalies that have been occurring in his own city and he had no idea why.  _ Something didn’t feel right. _

“Huh, I thought he would especially after that explosion not too long ago.”

“Explosion?!” Tessu squeaked. “Wait! I remember reading something about it on the news but it wasn’t very elaborate.”

Leon’s breath hitched at that. “...That’s probably the Chairman’s doing. He’s being so secretive about what he’s doing that he’s even...told media outlets to not say anything that might draw suspicion.”

“Dude, that’s even more suspicious.” Raihan squinted.

“I guess that would explain why we felt the Fairy Gym shake and the power went off after our shoot.” Juliet added.

“Oh yeah...that really freaked me out…” Mary shivered uneasily at the reminder. 

“I’m sorry about that. Sonia and I went on a wild Cramorant chase because apparently the explosion triggered the power of Dynamax to spread so there was a chance that Pokemon would Dynamax right in the middle of the city.” Leon pressed his fingers against his temples, remembering how frustrating it felt to run around Hammerlocke to protect the citizens while also preparing to battle any Dynamax Pokemon that appeared.

“Ugh, don’t remind me. What the hell is the Chairman thinking?” Raihan scoffed, slamming down his bottle of beer a bit too hard. 

“No kidding. It sounds like someone could have gotten hurt.” Vanquil winced. 

“Thankfully, no one was reportedly injured. Arceus knows I wouldn’t forgive myself if someone was…” Leon trailed off bitterly. 

“...Yeesh. This is a night to relax and unwind. Not to ignore the issue at hand, but why not put it on hold for now? I hate seein’ you all so stressed.” Piers interjected. 

“Piers’ right. Whatever Chairman Rose has cooked up, hopefully it’s not anything bad.” Raihan’s smile then turned mischievous. He looked around the room in search for Sonia and when his teal eyes connected with her own, she sighed apprehensively and excused herself from her conversation with Nessa. She crept up behind Juliet and surprised her by linking her arms with hers. 

“Oh! Hey, Sonia! What’s up?”

“Nothing much! There’s actually something I want to talk about with you. Why don’t we talk in one of the VIP rooms?” Sonia urged, gently pushing Juliet away from the group, not really giving her a chance to answer despite asking. 

“Uhhh...Sure?” Juliet answered hesitantly, looking over her shoulder to look at the aspiring Professor suspiciously. 

“Great! Ah! I should get myself a drink too so, wait in this room in the meantime!” Sonia replied before shutting the door, leaving Juliet in the cozy VIP room that honestly looked like a room for karaoke specifically. She was a little too exhausted to belt out her vocal chords any further so she opted to take a seat on the dark leather couch with her cold mango mocktail in hand. Just as she sat down, the lights suddenly dimmed and a disco ball dropped from the ceiling and basked the room in specks of light. 

...

What the heck was happening?

Before she could get up to inspect any switch within the room to turn off the disco ball, the door suddenly flung open with Leon stumbling inside. For a moment, Juliet thought he had too much to drink until he turned around to open the door, but to no avail. 

“Raihan! What was that for?!”

No answer. 

Alone in a room with Leon, with mood lighting and everything. The only thing left to complete this cliche set-up was some smooth jazz or something, Juliet thought to herself lamely. And then as if on cue, a gently romantic instrumental track began to play throughout the room, which only made her flush to her ears. Wow, they were really going all out with this set-up, weren’t they?

Ugh, remembering her earlier revelations of…apparently kissing Leon before, didn’t make the situation any better. Who knows if he even remembered and it wasn’t something that could just be casually brought up. 

Juliet swallowed her uneasiness and patted the spot next to her on the couch. “Well, looks like we can’t get out unless they let us so, might as well kill some time and chat.”

“R-Right.” Leon answered while clearing his throat. Taking a seat, he rubbed the back of his neck and he hoped the room was dark enough to mask his blush. “I swear I had nothing to do with this-”

Juliet snorted. “I figured. I would have been kind of impressed if you did, though.”

* * *

“Raihan, what are you-” Mary started, until the Dragon Gym Leader put a finger up to his lips. Seeing as how Juliet and Leon didn’t make any attempts to bust down the door in retaliation, he walked away from the door and wandered back to the group. 

“I’m playing match-maker with those two. I’m going to be blunt and don’t tell this to your leader but…” Raihan’s voice went down to a whisper. “Leon is really REALLY head over heels for her.”

“Really?!” Tessu let out excitedly. 

“Shh! Keep it down. As much as I trust the League, it wouldn’t be good if too many people know. Leon is really stubborn about keeping up with appearances. Be honest, do you think Juliet feels the same way?”

“Hmm…” Vanquil hummed with his arms crossed. “They did know each other before but Jules hasn’t really mentioned anything more than that.”

“But, didn’t you see the way they looked at each other before the concert? Especially Leon! He looked at her so fondly…” Tessu awed dreamily. “What do you think, Mary? You know her best, don’t you?”

“Well, knowing her, she tends to put on an act when it comes to romance. Like, she’ll brush it off by being easy-going because she doesn’t want to show that she’s flustered.” Mary smiled knowingly. “But, you know, you might be onto something. I’ve started to notice how Juliet always perks up with Leon’s around. During the concert, I even noticed how her eyes wandered over the audience as if she was looking for someone and her eyes lit up. It’s like her eyes are naturally drawn to him.”

“Huh, now I feel kind of dumb for not picking up on the signs.” Vanquil remarked sheepishly. 

“It happens when you’re too busy shredding on a guitar.” Tessu joked. 

“But...Juliet is definitely not the type of person who would make a move when it comes to love. She’s been through a lot and she’s probably scared of giving her heart away, even to someone like Leon.” Mary explained sadly. “Not to mention, she hates giving people trouble and the publicity they got over their magazine gig probably makes her even more cautious so she doesn’t cause troubles for Leon.”.

“...So, Juliet is just as stubborn about keeping it to herself, huh?” Raihan groaned. “They’re both hopeless.”

“But, can you really blame them?” Vanquil retorted. “Even with the rest of us, the media has our eyes on us and they can be unforgiving. Maybe they’re just waiting until the Gym Challenge and Champion Cup is over.”

“...You’re right. Sorry for being so pushy. It’s just...frustrating to see Leon hold himself back like that especially if it ends up affecting his performance in battles.” He just wanted to help Leon work out his feelings more honestly, but perhaps Raihan was coming off a bit too strongly than he intended. Maybe it was about time he put a little more faith in his best friend. 

“We get it, Raihan. We’ll try to support Juliet as best as we can and maybe even try to get some answers out of her. Let’s trust them, OK?” Tessu reassured. 

* * *

“...Did it get colder in here?”

“I feel fine, but then again you are drinking something cold.” Leon snorted. 

“Ugh, maybe I should have asked the costume designer to give me a long sleeved jacket to wear…” Juliet shivered, setting down her icy mocktail to warm up her hands.

“Here,” Leon shrugged off his bomber jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. He was notably taller and bigger than her, so she felt like she was being wrapped up in a warm, comforting blanket. She couldn’t tell if the jacket was warm or if his natural body heat was what was making her feel soothed. It was an embarrassing thought, but it made her subconsciously wrap the jacket tighter around her.

“Thanks for the blanket.” Juliet giggled. 

“Anytime.” He chuckled. “You were amazing out there. I mean, not just you, of course.”

“Hehe, thanks. Though, don’t think I didn’t notice how you were holding a blue light stick.”

“...Alright, so maybe I do have a bit of a bias.”

“Hey, I didn’t say that was a bad thing-” Juliet suddenly reached up and held his face, making his eyes widen and his cheeks flush. She didn’t notice until now, but thanks to the specks of light from the disco ball that beamed across his face, he looked...paler than normal. Almost sickly. And he had bangs under his eyes that were notable even against his tan skin. Her eyebrows furrowed with worry.

“Lee, what the hell - you don’t look well at all!”

Leon’s eyes lowered tiredly. “It’s just work…”

“Work shouldn’t be killing you slowly! What the hell is the Chairman making you do?”

“I...I honestly don’t know. I’m just cleaning up any messes that might be left behind from his experiments. I’m fine-”

Juliet gritted her teeth and clutched the front of his black shirt. Fine? How can anyone say they’re  _ fine _ when it looks like they haven’t slept in weeks! Arceus knows if he was even eating properly either. “Leon, don’t say you’re fine when you’re  _ clearly _ not fine. You should be getting some rest instead of-”

“I know,” Leon grieved. “But, even I want to relax and have some fun too. I don’t remember the last time I went out to an event like this. Can’t I have this?”

Her heart ached at how broken he sounded, how exhausted he was from just trying to unwind so he could forget about his duties for even a day. If only she could take some of his responsibilities off his shoulders so he didn’t have to face everything alone. No Champion should ever feel like they had to take every matter into their own hands. That was one of the ways to make yourself feel so alone. And she knew what it was like to be there. 

“I’m...I’m sorry...I shouldn’t have said that...Of course you deserve to have fun! I just...I just wish there was something I could do to help…” She frowned deeply. 

“...Thank you for caring about me. I don’t want to worry you anymore but things are only going to get busier from here on out so I won’t make any promises I can’t keep. At the very least, can you smile for me? Please?” Seeing as how she didn’t pull her hands away from his face after her apology, he cupped her cheek and gazed at her desperately. She sighed uneasily because a smile was hardly something that could solve tangible problems. 

Still, if that’s what he needed right now, then she’ll smile as much as she could, even if her cheeks started to hurt.

Her lips gradually quirked into a gentle smile and her eyes softened. “Is this OK?”

Leon grinned widely and his shoulders relaxed, releasing some of his burdens so he can fully appreciate how her smile made his heart flutter. “More than you know.”

“It looks like you need a hug too. Come here, Champ.” Pulling her hands from his face and opening her arms, she wrapped them around him so his chin was resting on her shoulder. He felt himself melt into her embrace, wrapping his own arms around her and pulling her close.

He wondered if she could feel how fast his heart was racing against her chest. 

“No matter how hard life gets, I’ll always be here for you, Lee.”

There it was. Her compassionate and empathetic heart was going to be the death of him. But, at the same time, only made him fall deeper in love. 

He really wanted to say it. But, he bit his tongue at the last moment and said something different. “Me too, J. You mean a lot to me.”

It was her heart’s turn to flutter next. She bit her lip bashfully, thankful that he couldn’t see how flustered he made her from that warm confession alone. “...You mean a lot to me too.”

And they both meant it. 

“I have an idea. Mind turning around for me?” Juliet requested gently. Leon raised an eyebrow before shifting his body around so his back was faced towards her. He was almost caught off guard by the pressure of her hands pressing against the hand planes of his back and he couldn’t suppress the strangled groan that fell from his mouth. He was expecting a much more...relaxing massage but perhaps he was that wound up that the tension in his muscles needed a lot of work to be loosened. 

“Arceus, Leon. Your knots have knots.”

“H-Heh, no wonder this...hurts a little....!” It was...a bit embarrassing that he was letting out a tad too many noises of relief that he ended up biting his lip a bit too hard. 

“You don’t have to hold yourself back, you know. Release that tension.”

“In that case,” Leon flopped across the couch on his stomach and buried his face into his folded arms. Juliet chuckled and resumed her work of loosening the tension from his shoulders and upper back. She wasn’t an expert, but there were many moments where she would give her aunt shoulder rubs and massages due to the built-up stresses that came from running a renowned inn. Heck, sometimes she’d even massage her own shoulders, but that usually didn’t have the same effect.

Leon didn’t want to admit it but he was practically melting under her hands like putty. The release from his muscles quelled his mind into a daze, and he found himself growing more and more sleepy as the massage continued. Before he could fully drift off, her hands had stopped but suddenly moved to cradle his head. He sleepily noticed that she was sitting by his head now and offered her lap to rest his head on. He wasn’t going to fight back against his fatigue and plopped his head on her lap as his eyes began to flutter closed. The last thing he recalled before slipping into a deep slumber was the gentle caressing of her hand brushing through his hair and her sweet smile. 

“Sweet dreams, Leon.”

* * *

**_Where am I…?_ **

**_This...This wasn’t Newmoon Island nor anywhere that I recognize._ **

**_Was this...a lab?_ **

**_Why...Why am I encased in some sort of...chamber?_ **

**_That screech...! I’ve never heard of anything like it…!_ **

**_Where am I?_ **

**_Who are these people? Scientists? I can’t hear a word they’re saying._ **

**_Wait._ **

**_This man in a grey suit...I’ve seen his face many times on my own and through the eyes of…_ **

“It seems that you’re awake. So, you’re Darkrai, yes?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> During the part where Raid Prism starts to play with Piers, the song that I had in mind while writing it is a song called Unsheathed by a J-Rock band called Silhouette By the Skylit. Pretty fitting because of the title huh? It's a really good song so I highly recommend you look it up!
> 
> This chapter marks the end of the calm before the storm so expect the drama and suspense to pick up next week! I plan on releasing another memory chapter tomorrow as well and an intermission chapter that summarizes the events that have happened so far for anyone who may still be confused on the order of events!
> 
> As always, thank you very much for reading this chapter and feel free to leave a kudos and a comment if you'd like!


	18. Memory Chapter II - Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lee and J confide in each other about some of their insecurities.

**Memory Chapter II - Secrets**

* * *

As a punishment for what happened on the beach, Lee was told to stay at the inn while his mom and brother went to Lilycove City where an amusement park was in town for the next few weeks. The punishment could have been a lot worse, but he couldn’t help but feel a little left out from the rides and carnival food. At the same time, he couldn’t blame his mom for feeling a bit protective. After all, he was always away from home due to his duties as Champion, so knowing that he would be staying put at the inn, gave his mom peace of mind. Before the trip, his mom made it very clear to him that this was going to be a family vacation, so he wasn’t allowed to use his phone either. It saved him the stress of having to be reminded of any appointments or meetings, but not being able to contact his friends back in Galar made the disconnect from technology a bit more lonely.

He wandered through the halls of the inn, slowly beginning to recognize where everything was so he didn’t need to call out to Odin for directions to the dining hall. Even though lunch had just started, most of the tables were already taken by other guests of the hotel. He spotted J sitting at a table by the window and hoped she wouldn’t mind his company.

“Hey J!”

“Oh! What’s up, Lee?” She looked up from her plate of pasta and gave him a cheerful grin.

“Not much. Mind if I sit with you for lunch?”

“I don’t mind!”

“Thanks.” He quickly went over to the open buffet to grab a burger and a plate full of fries before taking a seat across from her. She looked around the dining hall for any sign of his mom or Hop, but it was just him again.

“Your mom and brother are still giving you the silent treatment?”

“Sort of. I have to stay here for the day while they go to the amusement park in Lilycove City.”

He didn’t know if he was imagining things, but he swore he saw her hand twitch from what he said – specifically what, he didn’t know but he wasn’t going to pry into her personal business if she wasn’t willing to share.

“Aww. That sucks. I was actually supposed to go too with Courtney and my uncle but I changed my mind.”

OK, he would be lying if he wasn’t even a _little_ bit curious.

“How come?”

Her eyes dropped to her plate of pasta, poking at the noodles aimlessly as her voice grew soft and distant. “Lilycove City is where I used to live with my parents. I...don’t have the best relationship with them anymore, so I live with my auntie and uncle now.”

Oh. Now he felt bad for making her bring it up. “...Sorry. You didn’t have to bring it up if you didn’t want to.”

J shot him a reassuring small smile. “If I didn’t want to bring it up, I wouldn’t have said anything.” She resumed eating her food, but with a lot less cheer than when he first greeted her. “But, I don’t want to bring you down either.”

“Don’t worry about me.” He shyly scratched the side of his cheek. “Listening is what friends do, don’t you think?”

Her smile perked up at that. “Friends?”

“...Am I pushing it?”

“...No. I don’t think so. I think we’re past acquaintances at this point. But, as your new friend, it’s only fair that you unpack some of your own secrets. Ones you’re willing to share, obviously.”

“Secrets...” His biggest obvious secret was that he was Champion of the Galar region, but based on experience, that was something that influenced people’s opinions of him. He already had enough of that back home. But...something about J made him want to trust her. The way she spoke of her family felt genuine, and with family issues of his own, it wasn’t easy to disclose such personal history. 

“I guess for me, my dad left when my brother was only a few months old. My mum never told me why but, she basically had to raise my brother and I on her own with some help from our grandparents.” He closed his eyes and leaned his chin on the palm of his hand. “Once I became old enough to take on more responsibilities, I vowed to do everything I could so my family could rest easy. I wanted to be someone they could rely on.”

“Someone to rely on, huh...” J repeated to herself. Though their upbringings were different, the ideals of who they wanted to be were similar. She wanted to be someone that people could believe in, unconditionally. And in return, she wanted to give them hope for their own dreams and aspirations. Despite the bitter taste that was left behind from pursuing a life that she thought would give her that satisfaction, she wanted to believe that she could still make a name for herself in her own way.

“I think I can relate a little. To put it bluntly, I pale in comparison to what my older brother has accomplished.”

“You have an older brother?”

“Yeah...There’s quite a large age gap between us. 12 years. So, I was never particularly close to him. But, my parents adored him. He was everything they ever wanted. Smart, kind, and successful.” She swallowed the large lump that rose in her throat, her voice shaky from sadness. “I wanted my parents to look at me the way they looked at my brother. And they did at one point, but I burned out too quickly. Like a firework.”

Arceus, was she really going to spill everything about her emotional baggage to a boy she met two days ago? Perhaps it was a sign of how lonely she really was. No amount of fake smiles she wore could truly cover up the incompetence she felt. Maybe she should give her therapist a call later...

“Hey,” Lee softly called out to her. J hesitantly lifted her head, not wanting him to see the pool of tears that were overflowing in her eyes. His smile was warm and friendly, and his golden eyes gazed at her sympathetically.

“I think you shine in your own way. So what if you aren’t like your brother? Seeing how hard you work around your aunt’s inn, and how adventurous you were when you showed me all the Pokemon underwater – you made a unique impact on me that no one else can.”

“...Really? I don’t think I did anything special...”

“I don’t need anything special.”

J opened her mouth to retort. But, there was nothing.

_I don’t need anything special._

Those words echoed in her head over and over, and she felt an unfamiliar feeling stirring in her chest. It wasn’t constricting, it wasn’t suffocating. Her heart felt...relaxed. Like she could finally recognize that she was enough. Her every day gestures of kindness and generosity were enough.

She took a few shaky breaths before finally looking at him in the eyes and speaking from the bottom of her heart, “Thank you, Lee.”

“...That’s better.” His grin widening.

“Huh? What is?”

“Your smile. Everyone looks better with a genuine smile.”

She choked on her laughter, which dispelled the tears from her eyes. “I think so too. Sorry for being so depressing. I swear I’m not always like this.”

“We all have our moments. Here, let’s talk about something more fun. You also have a Swampert and Flygon, huh? My best friend back home has a Flygon too! He’s a big fan of Dragon Pokemon.”

“Flygons are great! Tiki in particular is really friendly and doting. Maybe you can take a picture of my uncle’s Salamence? As a souvenir for your friend!”

“That’d be awesome! I’ve always wanted to see one myself but you can’t find them in Galar.”

“Really? Why’s that?”

Time was lost to them, as they chatted on and on about their mutual love for Pokemon through the afternoon and into the evening. Tiffany did her usual rounds to check up on her employees, when she stopped to watch her niece talking fervently to the boy from before. She couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but the excited smiles and the twinkling in their eyes was very telling of their chemistry. She couldn’t recall the last time she saw her niece looking so alive and upbeat.

The sight warmed her heart and made her eternally grateful for the positive impact he was making on J. However, she couldn’t help but feel some bitter sweetness from it all, knowing that he would have to go back home eventually.

Perhaps she could arrange something with Lee’s mother to help the two keep in touch.

* * *

“Whoa! I’ve never seen a Rhyperior or Haxorus in person before.” J gawked at the two intimidating Pokemon. A Charizard, Aegislash, Rhyperior, Haxorus, and Dragapult. He had one powerhouse of a team that it was clearly evident that he was a serious Pokemon trainer. Dragapult was the only Pokemon she didn’t recognize and gulped nervously at the sheer height of it.

She would be lying if she wasn’t a tad overwhelmed.

“I have a Pokemon too!” Hop interrupted while tossing his own Pokeball that released a Wooloo. J pursed her lips in awe at the fluffy sheep and bent down to run her hand through its thick wool.

“It’s so cute! So, this is a Wooloo? What an adorable name too.”

“When we’re older, we’re going to take on the Pokemon League where I’m gonna beat-” Lee’s hand clamped over his brother’s mouth to stop him from finishing that sentence. His brother was _not_ going to blurt out his title like this!

“Ha ha! Your Wooloo’s so cute, right Hopscotch? Isn’t it your nap time? Why don’t you take a nap with it in our room?” He hissed hastily.

“I’m not a baby anymore, Lee! I don’t need a nap!”

J watched confusingly as the brothers continued to bicker back and forth. Typical sibling stuff, she supposed. If she and her older brother were closer in age, what would their fights have looked like? It made her feeling strangely nostalgic just thinking about it, despite not knowing her brother all that well now that she thought about it. She jolted out of her thoughts when she felt two small Pokemon perch on her shoulders. Looking closely, she recognized them as the Pokemon that were peeking out of Dragapult’s horns.

“Hey there, lil’ fellas.” She cooed, stroking both of their heads with her finger. “Hey Lee, what Pokemon are these?”

Lee pulled himself out of his sibling's spat and turned his attention back to her. “They’re called Dreepy! They’re Dragapult’s babies.”

“Babies, huh? Can they fight too?”

“Yeah! Dragapult shoots them from his horns.”

“He _shoots_ them?!”

“Relax! They’re stronger than they look and if anything, they think it’s fun when it happens.”

“Is that so...” Pokemon were so strange, but so endearing at the same time. The Dreepys chirped happily around her before playfully burying themselves in the hood of her hoodie. J cautiously looked up at the looming presence of the Dragapult to make sure he was OK with where his children were. He didn’t seem to mind, based on his gentle smile and small nod.

“You must take really good care of your Pokemon for them to be so friendly around strangers.”

“Thanks, but I think Pokemon in general will trust whoever their trainer is associated with. Besides, you’re not a stranger.” Lee approached her Swampert and Flygon, who looked at him curiously. Her Pokemon on the other hand, were a bit more on guard, but out of protectiveness towards her. Tiki lowered her head to let Lee cradle and stroke her head while Hajime allowed him to pet his head fins. Odin surprised him from behind, climbing up his back and leaning his body over his shoulder.

“Your Pokemon are pretty friendly as well. Do they participate in Pokemon battles? They look pretty tough and experienced.”

J twiddled her thumbs anxiously. He could tell just from looking at them? He was a more seasoned trainer than she gave him credit for. She bit her lip, wondering what kind of excuse she could use that wouldn’t give away her past Champion status. Regardless of what excuse she came up with, she had a feeling he was going to ask for a Pokemon battle.

“...I used to be a Pokemon trainer but, I’m repaying my aunt for taking me in by helping out around the inn so I haven’t really battled in awhile.”

“Do you miss it? Battling, I mean.”

That...was a hard question. Or rather, she never really thought about it. She gave up on being a Pokemon trainer to escape the ugliness that came from being under the competitive spotlight. But...she never really thought about her feelings towards battling itself. Breathing steadily, she tried to recall what she felt during Pokemon battles.

Don’t think about who was watching.

Don’t think about who was judging.

_Think only about your Pokemon and yourself._

The look of trust her Pokemon gave her for each command, the look of pride that danced in their eyes from defeating a Pokemon and being praised.

That feeling of power in her hands that she could take on the whole world. It was so...gratifying and accomplishing, like she was finally capable of something in her life. The strength she displayed was wholly hers,

And yet...

“...A little. And I think my Pokemon miss it too.”

“Then,” Lee beckoned his Charizard to his side and affectionately stroked his snout. His golden eyes flared up with fierce determination. “Let’s have a battle!”

She wanted to shrink away from his intense gaze, but it was hard to look away from how confident and proud he looked. How was she supposed to respond to a fiery invitation like that? Could she even hold a candle to him? Did he already forget that she wasn’t a Pokemon trainer anymore?

“I know you said you aren’t a Pokemon trainer anymore, but what’s the harm in a little fun?” He extended his hand out to her, the fire in his eyes softening enough so his passion didn’t overwhelm her. “Will you battle me?”

J stared at his hand and then at her own. Just for fun...Yeah, she could do that. She wasn’t battling for a title or reward.

She wanted to battle for herself. For her Pokemon.

The confidence from back then that she thought had long faded away, came back. Like it was there all along. Taking a bold step forward, she grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Flashing a proud smile, she levelled his competitive fire with her own.

“You’re on.”

* * *

It was down to the wire. Despite being at a type advantage, Lee’s Charizard was fast and had the aerial advantage against her Swampert, who wasn’t nearly as agile but made up for it with his special defense.

“You’re really putting up a fight, J, but I’m going to wrap this up. Charizard, use Air Slash!”

“Cut through it with Ice Beam!” J commanded. Her Swampert cut through the attack with a beam of ice that narrowly missed Charizard’s wing. Damnit.

“Charge up Solar Beam!”

“Protect!” But she had already used Protect too many times that her Swampert didn’t have the energy or speed to put up the barrier to protect itself. Charizard unleashed Solar Beam straight at the Swampert, who tried to protect itself with it’s thick arms but couldn’t withstand the force and blasted back from the super effective move.

“Hajime is unable to battle! The winner is Lee!” Hop cheered, running up to his brother and barrelling into his chest for a big hug. Lee laughed merrily at his brother’s enthusiasm and swung him around in victory. J watched with a small smile, shoulders sagging in defeat. She went over to her ace and tended to his wounds with a Hyper Potion. Hajime looked up at her apologetically but she wrapped her arms around him affectionately. He fought proudly and with all of his might and she was so proud of him.

“Don’t be sad, Hajime. You were awesome out there! Did it feel good to battle again?” She asked. Hajime beamed at his trainer in response and nudged her adoringly. Even after all this time, he was still as tough as ever, and clearly shone his brightest on the battlefield. Tiki and Odin gathered around them, cooing and happily cheering for their trainer, despite the loss. She wondered if they could sense her small change of heart towards battling.

All this time she spent moping and wallowing in self-pity, her Pokemon’s talents and skills were going to waste. The realization made her heart ache, but it only drove her to pick herself up and rise once again. Whether that was towards competitive battling, or something else – she would figure it out.

There was no rush. She’ll find her way, one step at a time.

“J!” Lee jogged over to her. He beamed at her just as brightly as her Pokemon were. “I...I had no idea you could battle like that! I’ll be honest, I may have underestimated you a bit.”

“Aha...Well, you’ve helped reignite my fire that I thought was gone. I’m a little surprised myself.” She replied, bashfully rubbing her arm.

“I’m glad. The way you carried yourself and your Pokemon...Are you sure you don’t want to go back to being a Pokemon trainer? I think it suits you a lot more. Don’t get me wrong, I think helping with your aunt’s inn is really nice of you but...I think you can go far with that kind of strength.”

“You think so?”

“For sure! Hell, I think I’m already a fan.”

“Ahaha...Thank you, Lee. I don’t know if I’ll battle professionally but, I don’t want to dull my Pokemon’s skills anymore than I already have.” J looked up to the bright blue sky, eyes brimming with hope and optimism. “I’m going to start believing in myself again.”

“That’s the spirit! I can’t wait to see where you go from here. And until then, promise you’ll battle me again?” Lee held up a closed fist out to her. J knocked her fist against his with no hesitation.

“You bet!”


	19. Raising the Stakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rampaging, Dynamax Perrserker has been spotted in the middle of Hammerlocke and Leon is swiftly on the case. However, there are still civilians nearby and people are still in their homes so Raid Prism jumps into the fray to help quell the chaos.

**Chapter 13 - Raising the Stakes**

* * *

_“So, are you ever going to tell me how you got here?” Juliet asked curiously, sitting on her knees in the field of forget-me-nots while braiding Maya’s hair. Maya hummed a melody unfamiliar to Juliet and mindless plucked the petals off of her forget-me-not. It didn’t seem like she heard her question, clearly caught up in her own thoughts to answer._

_It was...uncanny how much the little girl looked like her when she was a child. Although she didn’t really spend time sitting in fields of flowers, making flower crowns, and thinking about fairy tales, it was safe to assume that the girl grew up in a place full of nature and perhaps during a time when civilization wasn’t as advanced as it was today._

_Was that the reason why a ghost of a little girl was living inside of her subconscious? So, she could experience what life was like in her eyes?_

_Juliet swore she remembered Darkrai saying she was ill, so she likely didn’t have any friends and couldn’t go out any farther than what was home to her. She must have been so lonely, being cooped up at home all the time with only her toys and her parents to keep her company while girls her age were probably off having adventures of their own._

_It reminded her of when she was young, indecisive of what she wanted to pursue in life, and watched trainers go on their journeys while she studied medicine because that’s what her parents wanted._

_And yet, Maya didn’t seem bitter about her life. She didn’t seem to hold a grudge or hold any malice towards her fate or Darkrai. Or maybe it was because she was too young to really understand._

_“Hey, Maya?”_

_“You mean ‘Princess Maya’.” Maya giggled._

_“Right, my apologies, Princess Maya. How come you didn’t appear when Darkrai was around?”_

_“Darkrai’s really strong that I couldn’t. Even if I did...Would he have been happy to see me?” Maya wondered sadly. “I know he didn’t mean to hurt me, but I could feel how sad he was, and I didn’t want to make him even more sad.”_

_Or maybe she wasn’t as naive as Juliet originally thought. She was more perceptive to other people’s emotions than she gave her credit for. Had Maya been watching her exchanges with Darkrai the whole time? Maybe some of her own compassionate heart was rubbing off on her. “Do you miss him?”_

_“...I do. He was my friend. Even if he looks a little scary, he was nice and played with me a lot when my parents were too busy.”_

_“You’re right...Even when he caused me a bit of trouble in the beginning, I liked talking to him.” The void of his absence felt more prominent at the mention of the Pokemon, making Juliet look up at the eternal night sky of her dream world, wistfully._

_“He doesn’t mean to hurt people - just like me, he just wanted friends.” Maya nodded to herself._

_“You say it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.” Juliet smiled._

_“Don’t you think so? I hate feeling lonely.”_

_“Me too, Princess Maya. It’s not much fun either, is it?”_

_“Nope! Which is why I’m so happy I get to play with you whenever you go to sleep and then see what the world is like during the day! I never got to have my own Pokemon, go shopping, go to cafes-” Maya giggled mischievously. “Spend time with someone you like.”_

_Juliet rolled her eyes and fell back into the field of flowers. She wished she had the child-like innocence that Maya had in terms of love. In fairy tales, they were always depicted as ‘love at first sight’ or even fell under the category of destiny and fate. She especially hated the former, having a name based off of a famous play of two crossed star lovers, tragically dying over their perceived love for each other._

_She hated that._

_For her, love isn't just about feeling Butterfrees in your stomach and wanting the physical affection that came from being in a relationship - it was about the emotional connection. She wants to care about the other person’s dreams and ideals, and wants to see them thrive and be the best person that they can be. She wants to lift them up during their moments of weakness and vulnerability, but also letting them grieve._

_But…it was ironic because as much as she wanted to be that life-partner to someone else, she was....terrified of letting them do the same. What if she had too much baggage? It wouldn’t be fair to the other person if she held so much of herself back because of her own insecurities._

_Like, she couldn’t trust them._

_Her feelings for Leon...were complicated. She wasn’t going to kid herself and say she didn’t at least feel strongly about him. But...knowing that he remembered a side of her that she can’t even recall, it felt like she had already betrayed his feelings. It hurt knowing that she had unintentionally hurt his feelings. Which is why she was so desperate to remember, so she can finally share in his joy. She suspected that Maya had something to do with not being able to remember, but the little girl would always get...upset and distant whenever she brought it up, as if her favourite toy was about to be taken away._

_As impatient as she was, she didn’t want to upset Maya, and seeing how she was enjoying some part of life through her eyes, hopefully that will give her a reason to move on._

_This was_ **_her_ ** _life after all._

_“It’s not that simple, you know.” Love isn’t a fairytale, she thought to herself._

_“But, all that matters is that you like him, right? And I’m sure he likes you too!” Maya reassured with bouncing optimism._

_“Hm, maybe. But, he’s pretty busy as it is and I don’t want him to be any more stressed than he already is.”_

_“...I don’t understand adults…” Maya mumbled under her breath._

**_BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM_ **

Juliet jolted up her bed in a frenzy, reeling from the aftershocks of the quaking ground that shook the hotel. She fully prepared to leap out of the window if the hotel was going to crumble, but the hotel eventually settled. The moment of peace was short lived, screams and yells erupting from outside, making her throw back the curtains to see what was wrong. Her eyes widened in shock at seeing a Dynamax Perrserker in the middle of the street of Hammerlocke. 

What the _hell?!_ Dynamax Pokemon were only able to transform in direct proximity to a Power Spot, which included Gyms and Power Spots scattered across the Wild Area. No Pokemon should be able to transform outside of those areas! 

As civilians fled to their homes or to safety, she noticed someone going up against it by himself. She recognized his lilac mane immediately, followed by his signature Pokemon that unleashed a devastating flamethrower attack that made a direct hit, but only made the Perrserker raise its barriers. 

He may be a Champion, but fighting in the middle of a street wasn’t at all safe for both himself or the people around him. At least in the caverns of Power Spots, there was a lot of room to move around and openings to escape if things went downhill - this situation was completely unpredictable and there was no running from it. Someone was going to get hurt or worse at this rate. 

Juliet didn’t waste another second and didn’t care that she was still in her pajamas and practically leaping out of the window of her room while sending out her Flygon. She safely landed on her back, and it seemed like her team had the same idea, noticing Mary flying beside her on her Hydreigon, Tessu on her Corviknight, and Vanquil on his Charizard. 

“What’s the plan, leader?” Vanquil asked loudly. 

“Evacuate everyone in the surrounding area! If we can keep that Perrserker in one spot, it won’t be able to cause as much damage!” Juliet ordered, nudging her Flygon to pick up speed until they were flying around the Dynamaxed Pokemon. Leon caught sight of her from the ground and waved his arms over his head to beckon her over. 

“J! It’s dangerous up there!”

“I know, but I’ll be able to read its moves from up here! Don’t worry about me! Tiki’s flying is second to none!” As if on cue, Tiki swerved away from Perrserker’s swipe of its dagger-like claws and unleashed her own flamethrower, chipping away part of the Pokemon’s barriers. 

Looking down at her Dynamax Band that didn’t fill up from any Dynamax power as she wanted it to, it was hardly a fair battle, but she’d like to think this was a test of the experience she gained over the year of doing Max Raids. 

“Dragon Pulse!!” Mary commanded, flying in on her Hydreigon and making a sizable crack in Perrserker’s defenses. 

“Mary!”

“Don’t worry, Tessu and Vanquil are helping Raihan with the evacuation!”

“OK! We can’t Dynamax here so this might be tougher than usual-” Her Flygon dodged another swipe from the Perrserker and dished out another burst of flamethrower, inevitably combining with Charizard’s own flamethrower that engulfed the Pokemon in a wall of fire and smoke. 

Crap, maybe it was a bit too much - they couldn’t see a thing through the billows of smoke. Juliet coughed and covered her mouth as Tiki frantically flapped her wings to blow away the smoke. Then, the next moments went by in a blur, as she heard the roar from Leon’s Charizard followed by her Flygon being violently shoved away. She watched in horror as Charizard took the attack from Perrserker’s razor sharp claws for them and fell to the ground below.

Her heart sank at the sound of Leon’s beloved ace hitting the ground. 

“CHARIZARD!!” She screamed after, making her Flygon give up their original objective and flew to the ground to Charizard’s side. Juliet thanked the stars that Charizard was still moving but he was badly injured, a large gash across his arm along with scratches and bruises littered all over his body. Her hand instinctively reached behind her for her bag, and then realizing that she didn’t bring her bag in the frenzy. 

Leon somehow found them through the smoke and his eyes widened in shock at seeing his partner injured and barely moving. “Charizard?! Hang on! We’re going to get you help-”

“Do you have any potions, Leon? I’m so sorry, I was so caught up in helping that I didn’t grab my bag before coming here-”

“There should be some juice left in my Hyper Potion, but that gash on his arm is-”

Then, Tiki pulled out the Sitrus berry that Juliet made her hold and gingerly nudged it against Charizard’s snout. He weakly looked up at the Flygon, who looked down at him worryingly and motioned the berry further against his mouth. Charizard opened his mouth and slowly chewed the berry, gradually feeling bits of his strength come back to him. Juliet’s Flygon then untied the red ribbon wrapped around one of her antennas and tied it around the wound on Charizard’s arm. It was hardly a good substitute for a bandage, but she desperately wanted to help the Pokemon that got hurt from protecting her. She whimpered apologetically to Leon’s ace and affectionately nuzzled her snout against his cheek.

Juliet smiled softly at the sight. Her Flygon had always been very doting and affectionate towards other Pokemon. On top of being so appreciative when someone did anything for her. She couldn't rest easy until any debt or favour was repaid. 

“Good girl, Tiki. He’s going to be OK.” She cooed gently. Her Flygon nodded, but refused to leave Charizard’s side even while Leon applied the potion to his wounds. Charizard didn’t seem to mind though, offering his own nudges towards the green dragon, which made Tiki keen from the returned affection. 

Once Charizard’s wounds were finally tended to for the most part, he groggily rose from the ground and stretched out his wings while being mindful of his wounded arm.

“Are you guys OK?!” Mary called out from above. Charizard prepared to take off again, only to have his non-injured arm being tugged on by Tiki. Even though they couldn’t understand the verbal exchange between their Pokemon, it was obvious that Tiki didn’t want Charizard to go back into battle because of his injuries. 

But Charizard was stronger than he looked. 

“Tiki, don’t worry. Just a little more and he’ll take a long deserved rest after.” Leon reassured, reaching up to caress her head. Tiki slowly let go of Charizard’s arm, allowing him to take off but not before shooting the Flygon a nod of gratitude. 

“Let’s go as well, Tiki!” Patting her Flygon’s back before climbing on, they took to the skies again to reconvene with Mary again. They did a good job with keeping the Perrserker at bay, but her Hydreigon was starting to look exhausted. 

“Is Leon’s Charizard OK?” Mary asked with concern. 

“Yeah, he’s fine. A little beat up but let’s finish this battle quick before someone else gets hurt!” 

After a few more rounds of attacks, the barrier surrounding Perrserker finally broke, lowering its defenses and wearing it down enough for them to take it down so it could revert back to size and faint. When Perrserker was finally down for the count, Tiki immediately rushed over to Charizard to make sure he was OK. 

“Easy, girl. I told you Charizard’s going to be fine! You’re a lot more doting than usual.” Juliet laughed from how her Flygon turned up her nose at her from that. Guess she couldn’t stop her from being a bit overbearing.

“Are you all OK?” Leon asked, rushing over to them as they landed safely on the ground. 

“We’re fine. It was a bit difficult not being able to Dynamax too, but I’m glad no one else got hurt.” Juliet sighed. 

“I’ll go tell the others that everything’s OK now!” Mary told them before flying off to the far left entrance to Hammerlocke. 

Juliet got off of her Pokemon’s back and went over to Charizard to cradle his snout with gentle hands. “Hey buddy, thanks for protecting us back there. Take it easy until you’re better, OK?”

Charizard growled softly, nuzzling her cheek with care. 

Leon offered the same affection to her Flygon, thanking her again for looking after his Charizard and staying by his side. It was a well deserved moment of peace of just caring for each other’s Pokemon after a harrowing situation of protecting the city from the sudden Dynamaxed Pokemon. Its appearance was nothing short of unsettling, feeling a sense of dread creep up closer and closer as problems began to pop up more frequently towards the end of the Gym Challenge. 

Was it always like that? Sure the tensions and the stakes are high as trainers grew increasingly more competitive, but that would hardly explain the rise in issues regarding Dynamaxed Pokemon across the region. 

“Hey, Lee. A while back you said that you and Sonia went around Hammerlocke to look out for Dynamaxed Pokemon after an explosion from the Chairman’s experiments. Don’t you think the situation is getting...more dire?”

Leon heaved a heavy sigh. “I agree. He said something about this being good for Galar in the long run, but it’s sure causing problems either way.”

Good for Galar? What could Chairman Rose be doing to take the risks of temporary damage and explosions for the greater good? How does he actually know it’d be for a greater cause if no one besides him and those working closely with him, were the only ones who knew about it? It felt awfully _presumptuous-_

“We’ve arrived on the scene of the raging Dynamaxed Pokemon here in Hammerlocke! Champion Leon and...wait, who’s this?” A news reporter approached them with an army of cameramen and other fellow reporters behind them and they were unforgiving with the microphones that they shoved in their faces. 

Juliet looked down at herself and clicked her tongue.

Fuck.

She was still in her pajamas. And she _definitely_ wasn’t comfortable with seeing members of mainstream media. Seeing their overzealous faces, expectantly waiting to hear what they wanted; it felt like a boulder dropped in her stomach from anxiety. 

“Juliet from Raid Prism. I didn’t exactly have time to change before jumping into action.”

“Ahh I see! And even more so with Champion Leon. It seems like outside of modelling together for work, you also work together in solving conflict. What’s your relationship exactly? There’s been a lot of speculation online and-”

Juliet rolled her eyes and groaned at the implication. Couldn’t the media just _let it go_ already? It was one time and they were clinging on to like a lifeline. She thought she would be satisfied with just...pretending that the media didn’t exist so she could go on with her life of being friends with Leon like they always had. But, then, she remembered what he said the other night that rubbed her the wrong way and the annoyance in his tone made it obvious that he was just as fed up:

_“...That’s probably the Chairman’s doing. He’s being so secretive about what he’s doing that he’s even...told media outlets to not say anything that might draw suspicion.”_

Manipulation, even bribery, who knows what story the media would twist up next just to earn a paycheck. Didn’t they have any shame or any semblance of integrity left? People didn’t just want answers, they wanted honesty, and the means to get it should be genuine, not out of petty threats from their bosses. That’s why Juliet could never truly trust them, and she probably wasn’t alone in that way of thinking. Hell, Leon probably suspected it by now. Call her a pessimist, but in her opinion, there was nothing more powerful in the world than the media, because they had the attention of the masses. People are stuck in the mindset to believe every piece of information that’s being fed to them because they want to believe that they’re being fed only the truth. 

The media kept jabbing at their relationship because they _wanted_ her to break out of frustration, they _wanted_ to see how far they could push her so they had something groundbreaking to document if she reacted a certain way. It was like they were holding a gun to their heads, and she _hated_ that Leon was being dragged into it. 

_Today is a story not told, but_ **_sold._ **

It was **_suffocating._ **

“We’re just co-workers. As the leader of one of the top Max Raid teams in Galar, I feel that it’s my responsibility to help resolve conflict in regards to Dynamaxed Pokemon. Moreover, I didn’t come here alone. The rest of my team were either helping Leon and I take down the Perrserker or helping Raihan evacuate civilians. That’s all. Good day to you all.” She explained bitterly, before leaving the scene on top of her Flygon with a scowl evident on her face. She ignored the way Leon looked at her worryingly as she took off and didn’t even hear him call out to her. 

She should have left before _they_ showed up.

* * *

"Take a look at the news!" Hop exclaimed, holding up his Rotom phone to Gloria as they walked through the tunnel leading into Hammerlocke. His screen showed a news article of the Dynamax Perrserker that appeared in the streets of Hammerlocke. “See! There’s Lee! He really is the greatest, right?"

“That’s amazing! And it looks like no one got hurt either.” Gloria awed. 

"Lee and his Charizard took down that Dynamax Pokémon in the blink of an eye! I knew Lee was strong, but this! Really makes you appreciate how great he is, eh?"

“No kidding! I’m starting to get nervous for the Champion Cup…” 

“Whoa! You already think you’re going to make it to the finals and be the one to fight Lee? Sorry mate, but that’s going to be me.” Hop boasted, putting his hands on his hips proudly. Gloria snorted and decided to leave it at that, letting Hop bask in his pride. Despite winning fair and square in every battle between the two of them, a part of her couldn’t help but feel...guilty. Like she was being too hard on him. 

Beating his brother and becoming Champion has always been his dream, and it became more evident that she might be taking that dream away from him. But at the same time, there was no way Hop would accept a victory out of pity. He was her best friend - it would be fair to him if she didn’t fight with every ounce of herself. 

If she did beat him in the Champion Cup, well...she hoped that Hop wouldn’t hate her for it. He was her best friend since childhood, and even though he had always picked himself back up when he started to doubt himself, what if...what if beating him in the Champion Cup ended up being the _breaking_ point?

“Oh, look! It’s Lee and Sonia!” Hop jogged over to Lee and tackled him from behind, burying his face into his brother’s signature cape. Leon stumbled a few steps forward with a laugh and turned around to properly hug his brother.

“Hey, Hop, and Gloria too! How’s the badge collecting going?” Sonia asked.

“It’s going great! All that’s left is Raihan, Lee’s greatest rival! I’m a bit antsy just thinking about it…”

“I’m sure you’ll do great, Hop! Raihan’s a tough opponent but you’ve both grown a lot from when I first gave you your starter Pokemon so keep up the pressure!” Leon encouraged passionately.

“You don’t need to tell me twice, Lee!”

“Leon, you protected Hammerlocke all by yourself, right? You’re amazing!” Gloria chimed in. Leon’s eyes furrowed in confusion from what he just heard. Him, protect Hammerlocke by _himself?_ That wasn’t the statement he gave to the journalists and news reporters at all. He was strong, but he wasn’t at all conceited to take all the credit when others helped him. 

He wasn’t _invincible._

“Wait, where did you hear that? All by myself? Raid Prism and Raihan helped too!”

“Eh? They did? But, they weren’t mentioned in the article we were reading…” Hop fished his phone out of his pocket and held up said article for Leon to read himself. As his eyes skimmed through every line and every paragraph, his eyebrows gradually became more tensed in disbelief. No one from Raid Prism was mentioned. Hell, even his own best friend wasn’t mentioned!

So, that’s why there were a few Marcos Cosmos employees that showed up specifically to where he was giving his account of the event. 

They must have pressured the media to make the rescue all about him, further feeding into the idolization that people held towards him. 

It was wrong. It was like he had to accomplish things on his own otherwise he couldn’t live up to the image that Chairman Rose made for him. Having help...wasn’t as heroic or glamorous as saying he did it all himself because he was just that strong. 

But, he _hated_ it. It was like his pride of being unbeatable was being used against him. 

“Sometimes...you shouldn’t believe everything the media says. Juliet and Mary helped me take down the Perrserker, while Tessu, Vanquil, and Raihan were evacuating everyone in the area.”

“Really?! Then, how come they weren’t mentioned at all…” Gloria mumbled. 

“For me, being Champion isn’t just about being the strongest trainer; there’s strength in accepting help when you need it-”

_Life as a Champion sounds lonely, but it doesn’t have to be._

“Life as a Champion can be lonely, but it doesn’t have to be.” Leon echoed the same words that Juliet once told him that resonated with everything he stood for. Maybe in the moment he was being too honest, especially when Hop looked up to him, but he didn’t want to keep the realities of being a Champion to himself anymore. If Hop or Gloria _really_ wanted to walk down his path, he wanted to make sure they had an idea of what they were getting themselves into. They were only just young teenagers with their whole lives ahead of them. If he could mentally and physically prepare them in any way, he was going to do so. 

Even if it meant being _brutally honest_ about the title they so badly wanted from him. 

“Lee…” Hop was starting to notice how...subdued his brother could get. He didn’t really think about it when he was talking about his own experiences with the Gym Challenge and Sonia, but here it was again. He was always beaming and radiating confidence wherever he went, that to see him so reflective, it made him feel a little guilty. 

But at the same time, it made him feel...relieved. Validated that his brother felt what he feels as well. It painted a different picture of how he had viewed his brother up until this point. 

No matter how strong you are, and no matter how much success and fame you have, it’s OK to feel weighed down by the expectations.

“Of course you’re not alone, Leon! You have us and everyone in the League here to back you up. But, how did that Perrserker even Dynamaxed without being near a Power Spot anyway? Each explosion would always be accompanied by a burst of red light, and then the Dynamax power readings would go crazy...” Sonia pondered. 

“Well, finding out the cause is part of a scientist’s work.” Professor Magnolia intercepted, approaching the group with cane in hand. 

“Gran?! What are you doing here?”

“The chairman called for me. He wanted to know all about the red light’s relationship to the Dynamax phenomenon.”

“Did the Chairman know anything?” Leon asked. If there’s anyone that Rose would probably disclose information to, it would have to be the region’s esteemed professor, right?

“Nothing worth my time, unfortunately. The chairman’s all wrapped up in fretting over the future of our energy, apparently. He’s left everything to that executive lady. We just don’t have enough data.” Magnolia sighed. 

Damnit, nothing conclusive but at least Leon had a good idea of exactly what the Chairman was experimenting with. Energy? Dynamax? What was he _trying_ to do?

“That’s why I wanted to ask you to start looking into things, too, Sonia. You know more about the Darkest Day than anyone, after all.”

“Wait, are you saying that red light and the Darkest Day are connected?!”

Before Magnolia could even answer, Vanquil waved over with a shout. “Professor! We’re here!”

“Ah, you four. Just in time.” Magnolia greeted. “Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

“Of course, Professor! We were already here in Hammerlocke so it wasn’t any trouble on our end.” Tessu reassured.

“Well then, I’ll keep this brief - could you please capture a Gigantamax Toxtricity for me?”

“Another one?”

“Yes, but it must be its bass form. I know that might be a bit difficult considering both Gigantamax forms are the same, but I’d like to work with both of them just to be sure.”

“We understand, Professor Magnolia. I’ll take care of any of the extras we might find. How does that sound, Juliet? ...Juliet?” Mary glanced over to their leader, who had her eyes fixated on the ground with a somber look on her face. She gently elbowed the black haired trainer, who straightened up her back and finally looked up. 

“H-Huh? What was that?”

“Professor Magnolia is asking us to find a Gigantamax Bass form Toxtricity,”

“Oh! I see. That’s no problem at all, Professor!” Juliet nodded with a rather forced smile that made her lips twitch. 

And it didn’t go unnoticed, especially by Leon. 

“J? Is everything OK?” Leon asked worryingly, taking a step towards her, who took a giant step back to his surprise. _Why?_

“Everything’s great! Don’t worry about me, Champ.”

_She wasn’t looking at him either._

“Then, why aren’t you-”

“We should get going to the Wild Area, right guys? We have to scope out the whole place to find a Toxtricity raid so better get to it!” Juliet interrupted hastily, pushing her friends along the steps that led down to the Wild Area. Her sudden brash behaviour was nothing short of alarming, considering how she was usually happy to see him even in passing. 

But now, she seemed to be purposely _avoiding_ him. It was a huge shift in attitude from their heart-to-heart during Piers’ concert a few days ago; and that’s what hurt Leon the most. 

“...Did you two have a fight or something?” Sonia asked, her eyebrows creasing with concern. 

“No...Everything was fine until we took down that Perrserker...I wonder what happened.” Leon replied somberly.

Maybe he should call her later...

* * *

“No Gigantamax Toxicitry yet, but at least we’re getting a lot of Dynamax Candies for Professor Magnolia in the process!” Tessu beamed cheerfully, juggling the sparkling candies in her hands before catching them and putting them away, but not before holding one up and staring at it intently. 

It was called a Dynamax Candy for a reason, so what did it taste like?

“...You’re not planning on eating them, are you?” Mary asked, eyeing Tessu suspiciously. Tessu shoved the one Dynamax Candy she snuck out of her pocket, behind her back and whistles innocently.

“No, I’m not going to eat them! But, aren’t you just a bit curious as to what they taste like? They’re red so maybe strawberry or cherry?”

“If you’re going to try one, maybe do it when Professor Magnolia’s around so she can study the side-effects on humans.” Vanquil snickered. He looked over his shoulder, noting how Juliet was trailing behind further than what was normal. Usually she walked ahead of them, her braids bobbing with each spring in her step, but today her gaze was focused on the ground and her steps lacked any enthusiasm she usually displayed. He slowed his pace to walk at her pace and lazily slung his arm around her shoulder, surprising her out of her gloomy trance. 

“What’s with the long face, leader?”

“...” Juliet sighed apprehensively. “I hate the media…”

“Oh? I wasn’t expecting that. Are they still bugging you about the magazine you were in?”

“It’s not even about the magazine anymore - they keep asking about what my relationship is with Leon despite how many times I keep telling them that we’re friends.” She tightened her first until her knuckles turned white. “They think they can just keep prying into our lives to rile us up because all they care about is themselves - it pisses me off.”

“But, you’re not mad at Leon, are you?”

“Of course I’m not mad at him. But, clearly the media won’t leave us alone when we’re seen together. I’m just causing him more grief.” Juliet vented irritably. 

Leon already had enough to deal with and if she could lessen his burden in any way, she would do it. She already made this vow before, but after today’s events and how the media unearthed her resentment towards them, there was only one thing she could do. This wasn’t just about their friendship, it was about his career, his title - everything he worked _so_ hard for. It hurt to avoid him, it hurt to keep her distance, it hurt to see how upset he looked when he tried to reach out, but she was doing this for him. 

She was only going to get in his way otherwise.

“I don’t know about that. It seems like you’re causing him more grief by brushing him off. Aren’t you like…” Vanquil trailed off, thinking about how to word the rest of his sentence without setting her off. “...Interested in him?”

Juliet roughly shoved his arm off of her. “Seriously?! Now you’re sounding just like those journalists.”

“S-Sorry, I didn’t mean to! It’s just…”

“You always look so happy when you’re around Leon, and he always looks uplifted when he’s around you too.” Tessu interjected. 

“You too, Tessu?!” Juliet gawked in disbelief. Why were her friends trying to get a rise out of her for how she felt?! Why was everyone so interested in whether her feelings for Leon was something more?! It was like the world was just waiting for another opportunity to mock her, like it did back then. 

Why her? Why couldn’t she just catch a break and be left _alone?!_

Why did she always have to explain herself to _everyone?!_

“The media can be nosy for sure, but you shouldn’t have to sacrifice your time with him if-” Mary started, before being abruptly cut off when Juliet slammed her hat on the ground, silencing them instantly. She didn’t even care that dirt got all over it when she kicked her feet into the moist dirt in a fit of frustration. 

They were pushing it too far and she was approaching her limit. 

“And, so what if I love him?! I can’t just drop everything and tell him that! The media, his fans - they’ll eat him alive!” Juliet dug her feet into the ground, unfazed that the dirt was seeping into her shoes. She knew better than anyone else of what blowback looked like, and no one came out unscathed. Didn’t they _understand_ how much it hurt her when she told them in the first place?

“Leon _worked his ass off for 13 years_ to get where he is today! If he gets caught doing something that betrays people’s expectations of him, that could jeopardize everything he worked so hard for! And, let’s just say, on the off chance, he loved me back, do you _think_ he would be _happy_ living in a relationship where he has to keep hiding himself?! He doesn’t deserve that, and I don’t want to put him through that!”

She didn’t mean to yell at them, but she was so _fed up._

“So, please...Just drop it already. You guys got your answer…” Juliet whispered miserably. “Let’s hurry and find this Toxtricity for Professor Magnolia.” She walked hurriedly towards the nearest beacon of light that indicated an active Power Spot and she prayed that this was what they were looking for.

She couldn’t stand being around anyone at that moment.

She just wanted to bury herself under the covers and cry. 

“Jules, wait! We’re sorry!” Tessu called after, but Mary put a hand on her shoulder, silently telling her to stop. 

Tears of guilt welled up in her eyes, but she smiled reassuringly. “Let’s apologize later, when she’s had some time for herself.”

“Damn...I really blew it huh…” Vanquil lamented. “Sorry guys. I’m the one who started that.”

“It’s going to be OK. It’s been a rough day so, let’s get this task out of the way so we can relax.” Mary slowly followed after Juliet, who had her back turned to them as she sat on the edge of the Power Spot, and she thought to herself, 

_“I’m sorry for not being more considerate of your feelings, Jules.”_

* * *

“Chairman Rose, what’s the meaning of this?” Leon demanded firmly, showing him different articles of how he heroically saved Hammerlocke all by himself, all of which had praised him for his selfless deeds and unparalleled strength like he was their lord and savior. 

But he didn’t _ask_ for this.

It was all _lies._

“Hm.” Chairman Rose regarded nonchalantly, not taking the Champion’s anxieties nor the confrontation itself, seriously. It was a complete switch from how caring and considerate Rose had been throughout his life until now, and it only fuelled Leon’s doubt in him. “Meaning of what? The Champion of Galar saved the day once again. Isn’t that what the people want to hear?”

“But, it’s not the full truth! Why did you make your employees _manipulate_ my testimony?”

“Manipulate? That’s a rather strong word, don’t you think? I think the word you're looking for is ‘altered’ or ‘fixed’. Like I said, it’s what the people want to hear. You wouldn’t take it kindly if people started to think you’ve grown soft, hm?”

Leon gritted his teeth indignantly. Just as he suspected, this was all just a ploy to drum up hype - not to instill genuine hope to his fans like he wanted. It wasn’t fair to him. No, this wasn’t about him. It wasn’t fair for the people who were involved, who took it upon themselves to help him in the first place. 

Arceus...Thinking about it now, this wasn’t the first time, was it? How many others were swept under the rug in order to blast the spotlight on him alone?

“Listen, Leon. I’m doing all of this for your sake. You’ve shined and grown because of me. You wouldn’t throw it all away, would you?”

How could he be so blind? Leon could hardly _believe_ what he was hearing. He was playing into Rose’s hands, like he was dangling some sort of bait above his head. Was that all he was to him? Someone he could use to expand his enterprise? Was he just a pretty face on magazine covers and billboards?

_What about his strength and skill as a trainer?_

He didn’t want to accept it. He couldn’t accept it. What about his family? He was the reason they had a roof over their heads and food on the table. 

He had already gone too far, invested too much time and effort, to turn away from it all. What about his dream of helping trainers of the Galar region to be the strongest trainers in the world? Was he even making progress in that dream after everything he had done, or was the dream only drifting more far away than he realized?

Was there still time to turn things around, to bring back the genuine kindness that he wanted to believe Rose still had?

“...Tell me, Leon. What made you grow soft? You were so obedient, but you’re changed. When you first approached me about changing your schedule, I didn’t think much of it at first. Even I realize when I’m working too hard and need some respite. But, I’ve noticed you’ve been spending more time with the other League members, and you’ve been late to more of your shoots and meetings than usual.” Rose absent-mindely twirled his hair between his fingers, before staring at him with cold, accusing emerald eyes that made Leon feel an unsettling build up of _dread._

Leon’s palms began to sweat from nervousness. “I-I’m sorry, Chairman. I just wanted to deepen my relationships with my fellow League members and look out for my brother and his friend. I endorsed them after all.”

Rose pondered deeply on his response. “...I suppose I can’t fault you for that. Building relationships is the key to gaining new connections.”

Leon’s lips twitched at that. He knew Rose only meant it in regards to business. Was that the only thing on his mind as of late?

“But, even so, I expect an improvement in your behaviour since the Champion’s Cup is just around the corner. You recall how important this time of year is, yes?”

“...I understand, Chairman.” For the first time in his life, Leon felt pathetic. Every fiber in his being was screaming at him, telling him that he was just a puppet for someone else’s gain and he shouldn’t keep allowing himself to be pushed around any further. His pride wouldn’t allow it. 

But, what could he possibly do? There were too many things at stake if he just turned around and quit. He couldn’t even ask Raihan or the other Gym Leaders for help because they were backed by their own sponsors, who were all affiliated with Macros Cosmos. Asking them for help, asking them to stand up with him, would be putting their own livelihoods at risk. 

The Champion didn’t even tip his hat out of politeness - he abruptly turned around and left, not wanting to keep himself in that situation any longer. As the elevator descended, taking him further away from the man who practically raised him, his thumb hovered over Juliet’s name on his Rotom phone.

Maybe she wouldn’t be up for talking, but he wanted to make sure she was OK. He was immediately redirected to her voicemail much to his disappointment but it was better to leave something than none at all. 

“Hey J...It’s Leon,”

* * *

_“I wanted to check-in to see how you were doing. You seemed upset earlier, especially at me. Did I do something wrong? If I did, I’m so sorry. It feels like I’ve been making a lot of people upset with me lately...But, even so...I want you to tell me what I did wrong so I can fix things and be better...Anyway, I hope we can talk again soon. Take care, Juliet.”_

Juliet lifted her head from her pillow and choked out a sob. 

_No, Leon, you didn’t do anything wrong. When I read those articles about what happened today, and how my team and Raihan were omitted from being mentioned, I knew that wasn’t your fault, but that just means the media cares more about your image than us that they would go through such lengths to make a story that would sell…_

_I would know..._

_And...I don’t want to get in your way at such an important time of the year...I don’t want to make you feel guilty about things that are out of your control._

_And, I especially don’t want anyone to find an excuse to talk badly about you._

_So...I’m keeping my distance so I don’t cause anymore trouble for you…_

_I’m sorry._

_I’m sorry for falling in love with you._

* * *

**_Where am I…?_ **

**_Why...Why does it feel like I’m not in my own body anymore?_ **

**_This power…_ **

**_It hurts... It hurts…_ **

**_Every time I open my eyes, everything is dyed in red, like blood is smeared across my vision._ **

**_What’s happening to me…?_ **

* * *

**Pokemon Music Video -GOTCHA style-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a longer chapter, but that's going to be the case from here on out since shit is getting real! I really wanted to expand on the scene where Hop is showing Gloria/Victor a news article of how Leon dealt with a Dynamaxed Pokemon by himself, but with the ongoing experiments that Rose has been doing, it made sense to have it take place in the middle of Hammerlocke itself since there's a whole mystery of why Pokemon are even capable of Dynamaxing in locations where they shouldn't. 
> 
> Also the trailer for the Galar arc for the Pokemon anime is really going to help me with refining what I already have so I can stick to canon as much as possible, but still adding a lot of my own twists and interpretations. 
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reaching this chapter and feel free to leave a kudos and or comment! 
> 
> (P.S. That GOTCHA music video was incredible wasn't it?! It made me cry the first time I saw it and honestly, the vibe that came from it is pretty similar to what I have prepared for the climax, hee hee)


	20. Target

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raihan convinces Juliet to infiltrate the Power Plant to get answers, but she discovers more than she bargained for.

**Chapter 14 - Target**

* * *

_ “Princess Juliet? What’s wrong?” _

_ “...It’s nothing, Maya. I just...want to be alone right now.” _

_ Maya bounced over to Juliet’s side, who had her face buried in her knees, tears landing on the fully bloomed forget-me-nots surrounding her. For a while, her dreams had been a place where she could escape the stresses and struggles of the real world for a moment, and she was in the company of a cheerful little girl who could smile through her heartaches - but the feeling of helplessness of having to choose her own happiness or Leon’s well-being tore her apart. _

_ In an ideal world, where people weren’t cruel or hungry for gossip, maybe she and Leon could have been something. But, no such world exists.  _

_ Or maybe the problem was, her.  _

_ Her, and her fragile heart. Still so afraid, and resentful.  _

_ ‘All that matters is that you like him, right?’  _

_ Thinking about him, or even seeing him, was a painful reminder that she couldn’t be with him. That she shouldn’t be with him. She wanted nothing more to bury those feelings, so she can fondly cherish the close friendship that they had and ignore how her heart would flutter every time he laughed at one of her stupid jokes or how he wanted to see her smile.  _

_ But, with every flutter in her chest, she inevitably sunk deeper.  _

_ And that terrified her.  _

_ When did these tender feelings get so out of hand? _

_ “...You’re crying like your step sisters tore up your dress and you can’t go to the ball and meet your Prince.” _

_ Juliet snorted through her tears. As if she was some sort of Cinderella.  _

_ “No, nothing like that, Maya. Love is...not all sunshine and rainbows, you know. Sometimes, when two people are in love, there are some people who won’t be happy about it. And...they might even try to get in their way.” Juliet grieved. “He’s already going through a lot, and I don’t want his fans to turn on him and-” _

_ “Who cares what they think?!” Maya shouted suddenly, startling Juliet to whip her head in surprise at the girl’s sudden outburst.  _

_ “Did Ariel give up on Prince Eric when her father found out about her love for him?! No! Even if she got tricked by the evil witch to give up her voice to be with him, she fought for her love for him! And he fought for his love for her too!” _

_ “But-” _

_ “No buts!! Meanies will be meanies, but love will always win!” _

_...It was strange to be given a pep talk by someone so much younger than her, but there was something about Maya’s optimism and eartnessness that moved something in her heart that made her acknowledge her pessimism. Was this what other people felt when she encouraged them when they were feeling insecure? Giving up felt like the safest option, but giving up was still giving up. She was getting ready to give up on Leon without even trying to prove her anxieties wrong.  _

_ “But now more than ever, I want to be there for you. If you need to let it out, I hope you’ll trust my shoulder to cry on.” _

_ Arceus, she was  _ **_pathetic._ **

_ Letting him deal with everything on his own, it was the opposite of what she wanted for him. Being there for him, making sure he knew that he didn’t have to face his troubles alone - that was the kind of friend she had always been for him. _

_ At least, that’s what she hoped.  _

_ If life was taking a toll on him more than usual, then being there to help pull him up mattered more than ever. There was no time to despair over her feelings, there was no time to be selfish and defensive; the pain in his voice from the voicemail that he left for her - he wasn’t just looking out for her, but he was reaching for help. What kind of friend would she be to ignore that? _

_ Yeah, a friend. That was enough. _

_ Even if Maya meant love in a romantic sense, platonic love was just as important, and carried a kind of weight that romantic love didn’t have. And that feeling, that special kind of gentleness when it can to friendships, should always be treasured. She didn’t want to take for granted of what they had, just because she wanted something more, but at the same time, she wasn’t going to stop herself from letting her feelings run free. She desperately wanted to break out of the self-conscious cycle and be free. To embrace those warm feelings that tingled her heart while they were still there.  _

_ Love will always win, huh… _

_ Juliet smiled gently and gently patted Maya’s head. “You’re right, Maya. But, not just romantic love. All types of love are worth fighting for.” _

_ Maya grinned toothily. “Do you feel better now?” _

_ “A little, though that’s the easy part. All that’s left is how to deal with them. Though, now’s really not a good time.” _

_ The little girl puffed out her cheeks. “You’re so stubborn! Is it really that hard?” _

_ Juliet laughed. “Perhaps it looks like I’m making it hard for myself, but it’s better for the both of us. Honest.” _

_ Maya wasn’t completely buying it but she relented anyway. “If you say so…But, you better do it or I’m going to haunt you!” _

_ “And, what exactly are you doing now?” _

_ “...Spiritually observing!” _

* * *

**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**

It was so hard for her to wake up when her eyelids were heavy and exhausted from all the tears that were shed the night before. When she finally managed to force her eyes open despite how much they wanted to close again, she reached for her Rotom phone and texted Leon. She didn’t want to wake the poor guy so early in the morning especially considering how it looked like he was losing sleep from preparing for the Champion’s Cup and whatever Rose was making him put up with. 

**Juliet:** Hey Leon! I listened to your voicemail.

I’m OK and no, what made me upset 

yesterday wasn’t because of you. 

Maybe we can meet up later to talk about it?

Now that she had that out of the way for now, she had to forgive her friends for lashing out. She had a lot of pent up frustrations, but no one should have been the brunt of it. Well, her friends were probably still sleeping in their suites so she wasn’t going to wake them up just to apologize. She could never fall back asleep and sleep in once she woke up once so she had some time before their ‘history lesson’ at the Vault with Raihan. Maybe she should visit the Battle Cafe? It was practically a ritual by now for her to visit the cafe when she was in Motostoke, Hammerlocke, and of course, Wyndon.

“Tra...pinch…” Pistachio grumbled in his sleep. Rather than waking up the snoozing Ant Pit Pokemon, she quietly returned him into his Pokeball before getting dressed, and headed out into the Medieval streets of Hammerlocke. 

No matter how many times she walked through the cobblestone streets, it never failed to amaze her how seamlessly the style of architecture could still integrate with modern society without being intrusive or tacky. Heck, how many people could say they lived in a town that still had torches lit up along the high walls, and drawbridges that sectioned parts of the city? It felt like she was a part of one of her favourite video game franchises that mainly took place in the era of royalty and knights. 

She was so distracted by the architectural feats of the city that she didn’t notice that Raihan was strolling beside her. And his sheer height was hard to miss. 

“Top of the morning, Juliet.”

“Oh! Morning, Raihan. Somehow, I didn’t see you there.”

“I was going to say. I almost didn’t see you at all-”

As expected, she kicked him in the shins. 

“You better not sass me at the shoot.”

“I won’t. You’re going to be too gobsmacked during my history lecture to care. ‘Wow Raihan! You’re so cool and smart!’” Raihan ended playfully, pitching his voice a bit higher to lightly mock her. 

Juliet rolled her eyes. “Uh huh.”

“Anyway, I was hoping to run into you because I wanted to ask something,”

“What’s up?”

“You’re not mad that, you know, we weren’t mentioned on the news about protecting Hammerlocke?”

“Not really, no. I mean, a bit of credit would be nice and Charizard did get injured pretty badly from protecting me and Tiki. Sounds like this wasn’t just a one-time instance from how relaxed you are about it.”

“Eh,” Raihan shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’m not too crazy about getting media attention myself so I’d rather not be mentioned.”

Juliet’s eyes widened a little, surprised that someone like Raihan, who seemed to thrive off of attention, was sketched out by the media as well. “Oh? I’d never expected that from you.”

“TV snobs can say whatever the hell they want about me, but they’ll never know the real me. At least with social media, I have a bit more control over what I can do and say..”

“...Hm. You make a good point. We’re only showing the sides of ourselves that we want people to see.”

“You got it-” Suddenly Raihan stopped, making Juliet stop as well and curiously followed his gaze to what caught his attention. They noticed Chairman Rose and Oleana walking across the drawbridge leading into Hammerlocke Castle, where they were probably going to take a lift down into the Power Plant as per usual. 

That’s when Raihan had an idea. It was a risky idea, but it was worth obtaining any information on what Chairman Rose had been up to this entire time. He couldn’t erase the sinking feeling of paranoia from his stomach. In his mind, anyone who would go to such lengths to withhold information, conduct experiments that involved explosions and rampaging Dynamax Pokemon,  _ had _ to be hiding something. Hiding something big. Whatever it was, he didn’t know but he couldn’t ignore the rumbling in his stadium that came from below, nor the power outages that became more frequent as the days went by. But, thanks to his sheer height, he wasn’t exactly stealthy and in the event he had to hide somewhere, he probably wouldn’t be able to fit in small areas. His head turned to Juliet, who in turn, looked up at him to meet his gaze. 

Juliet could practically read what he was thinking based on how he smirked.

“No.” She shot down quickly. 

“I didn’t even say anything!” Raihan retorted.

“You were going to suggest that I sneak into the Power Plant to check out what’s going on down there. I know I’m smaller than you but I’m not stealthy! We can get into serious trouble-”

“Only if we’re caught. Look, I’ll distract the employee who’s guarding the door; I’m the Gym Leader, and a handsome one at that. I can distract her with my charms-”

“What kind of a plan is that?!”

Raihan grabbed her by the shoulders and looked at her desperately. “Please, Juliet! We both want to know what Rose is doing, right? And Leon especially wants to know too! This could help him!”

Juliet breathed deeply, carefully considering his plan by outweighing the risks with the information that she could potentially gain. She wanted to help Leon and lift that burden from his shoulder, but she was also terrified of what she could end up discovering, and she wasn’t looking forward to the consequences if she got caught. She could end up putting her friends’ reputations on the line by being fired and then arrested and then-

“...Fine. But, you better cover for me if I need to make a run for it at the last second.”

“Don’t worry. I got your back.” Raihan pointed to the large crates that were being dropped off outside of the stadium. “See those? Around this time they wheel those down into the Power Plant. I don’t know what’s in them but you should be able to slip inside one of them.”

“...You can’t be serious.”

“Didn’t you say you were going to do this?”

“OK, I get it just...keep an eye out.”

Her heart was starting to race in anticipation, but Raihan was already strolling up to the Macros Cosmos employees who were loading up the crates on a trolley to distract them so it was too late to back out from the plan without making Raihan look suspicious for approaching them. Considering how much he wanted to know what was going on under his gym, this was likely not the first time he tried to get answers out of a Macros Cosmos employee. She tiptoed around the vicinity, deciding how exactly she was going to pry off the lid of the crates, get in, and then pull the lid back on without anyone noticing.

That’s when she noticed a Machoke was about to put a lid back onto a crate, before a crate nearby tipped over and spilled it’s contents all over the floor. The Machoke grumbled irritably, and set the lid down to go help his fellow Pokemon colleagues to clean up the mess.

This was her chance…!

She stealthily approached the crate, climbed inside, and buried herself with what looked to be Wishing Pieces, so she didn’t stick out. Before she could let out a sigh of relief, everything was enveloped in complete darkness, meaning that the Machoke returned to put the lid back onto the crate she was in. Good thing the crates had narrow openings so she wouldn’t wound up suffocating to death. 

But, it was nerve-wracking as hell for not knowing what was going on outside. 

Juliet waited, and waited, until finally, she felt her crate being lifted from the ground and put on top of what she assumed to be a trolley. She heard the distinct sound of an automatic door opening before hearing the electrical hum of the elevator taking her down to who knows where. She strained her ears, keeping them alert for any conversations that could contain any nugget of information. 

“...That thing Rose is keeping is getting more erratic as the days go on. Is this safe?”

“Are you doubting the Chairman?!”

“N-No! Of course not! For something so terrifying, is it really the solution to giving Galar unlimited energy?”

Unlimited energy…? Something  _ terrifying? _ What were they talking about? Damnit - she should have had her phone running so it could record the conversation, and she didn’t want to risk making any sort of movement until she was sure that she wouldn’t get caught. 

“Beats me, but the Chairman wouldn’t be spending months on this if he didn’t believe in it. Let’s put our faith in him.”

“Right.”

Juliet felt the elevator stopped and the trolley began to move again. She couldn’t count how many turns and hallways she was being led through, until all movement stopped and her crate was promptly lifted and set down on the ground somewhere. Once she heard the squeaking wheels of the trolley fade away and all she could hear was the sound of her own breathing, she was confident that the coast was clear. She quietly nudged off the lid and carefully climbed out of the crate. 

It looked like she was in a storage room of sorts and the first thing she kept an eye out for, were security cameras. Surprisingly, there was none, which seemed strange but she wasn’t going to complain. Perhaps the facility had full faith in their employees and flawless security that there was no need for any heavy surveillance. After all, it was supposedly just a Power Plant. Still, she wasn’t going to let her guard down.

She called out Odin - her foolproof escape plan if things got hairy. 

“I made a good call for not replacing Teleport yet. If things get bad, use it immediately, OK?” Juliet ordered sternly. Odin nodded obediently and saluted. 

“Good boy. I’ll be sure to treat you to some pancakes afterwards.”

With bated breath, she finally left the storage room, but not before looking in both directions of the hallway for any signs of guards, Pokemon - basically anything that could spell danger for her. She couldn’t even hear any footsteps. That’s when she heard a distant buzzing that grew louder and louder, making her internally panic, as she watched a small Rotom drone pass by the hallway opposite from where she was. Shit, no wonder there were no security cameras - the Rotom drones WERE the security and they were probably multiple others scouting the entire vicinity of the Power Plant. Her hands clammed up anxiously, but she took a moment to take steady breaths before continuing her infiltration. 

What exactly were her current leads? She didn’t know what she was looking for. Surely the Power Plant had a floor plan or map for employees just in case they got lost. That was a good place to start. 

“Odin, keep an eye out for any sort of map or guide. And, be careful of those Rotom drones.”

Luckily, it didn’t take long to find a map plastered against a wall and it turns out, the Power Plant wasn’t as big as she thought it was. A lot of the rooms were computer labs and storage. The main point of interest though, was the ‘Generator’ room - which took up a huge chunk of space on the map. That was probably where Galar’s main source of energy came from. 

But, she couldn’t exactly waltz in uninvited. 

Odin tugged on her sleeve and pointed to an air vent in the ceiling that stretched throughout the Power Plant and would no doubt lead to the Generator room as well. She nodded at her Alolan Raichu, who quietly pried the screws out from the cover and used Psychic to guide his trainer safely into the vent. 

“Thanks, Odin. I’ll call you back out after I get what I need.” He also wasn’t going to fit in the vent, but she didn’t want to make him feel bad by mentioning it. Shoving his Pokeball safely into her pocket, she shimmied through the tight and dusty air vent, using the photo of the map from her phone as her only guide.

“...report?”

Hm? Did she hear something? She stopped crawling through the vents and listened closely for what she thought was talking in the distance. She heard it again, but it was muffled and incomprehensible. She had a strong hunch that wherever the voices were coming from, was where she needed to go. She followed the voices until they grew louder and clearer, until she saw an opening in the air vent that she could peer through.

When she reached the opening, she had to cover her mouth to silence her gasp. 

In all of her life, she had never seen...such a creature before. Was...it even a Pokemon? It was...It was so alien like, but nothing of the likes of Deoxys or Rayquaza. It was sharper, more angular - and not to mention dangerous and ferocious looking. She felt her skin begin to crawl uncomfortably from just imagining those sharp scales dragging across her skin.

Was this what Chairman Rose had been working on for the past few months? Was this...thing artificially created like Magearna or cloned from an existing Pokemon like Mewtwo? 

Juliet had a typhoon of thoughts and theorizes swirling in her head, making her dizzy from the horrifying discovery of what Rose had been allocating so much time to that resulted in multiple explosions, power outages, and rabid Dynamaxed Pokemon. She shakily took out her Rotom phone and began to record everything, from the lab itself, to the creature behind the glass chamber, to the shocking details that were being exchanged from scientist to scientist.

“Chairman, it seems that Eternatus is capable of taking on a Dynamax form that’s completely different from the likes of Gigantamax.”

_ Eternatus. _ That must have been what the creature was called, but what was this about another form that wasn’t Dynamax or Gigantamax? Professor Magnolia worked tirelessly to research the nature and origins of the two, but even she didn’t know that there was a _ third? _

“Oh? Please elaborate.”

“Well, considering how it’s harnessing the power of Dynamax itself, it has extraordinary amounts of energy to spare. If it’s released, Eternatus can reach its full potential and take on a completely different form that could supply a limitless amount of energy.”

So...the cause and origin of Dynamax, all came from this creature alone? That ruled out her initial theory that this creature was man-made, but that only spawned the question of where it even came from in the first place? Damnit, where was Sonia when she needed her?! At the very least, this could be a massive breakthrough for the assistant and give her the answers that she needed!

“Fascinating. And now that our...subject has been successfully fused with Eternatus, is my theory correct?”

He  _ what? _ Subject? Fused?

“It looks to be the case, sir. Darkrai’s abilities of inflicting nightmares has its own power over people and Pokemon, but during a new moon, he can truly harness the power of the new moon and when combined with Eternatus’ limitless power, they can bring about the Darkest Day that Galar can never wake up from.”

Juliet’s blood ran cold and she swore her heart stopped. How...How did they get Darkrai?! She thought he left the region altogether when he left her dreams! To think that Rose captured the Mythical Pokemon for the sick intent of using his powers for this...this messed up plan, it was  _ unbelievable. _

She didn’t want to believe it. But, she knew she had to save him. She didn’t know how, but she was going to find a way. 

How could he believe that bringing about the Darkest Day was a good idea?! Limitless amount of energy?! At the risk of rampaging Dynamax Pokemon and plunging the entire region into infinite darkness?! How could he, of all people, think that anyone would want to live in that kind of world?!

She didn’t want to hear anymore. 

**_“Ch...Champion Juliet…”_ **

Her eyes widened at the voice that only she could hear.

But, she recognized that voice all too well. 

**_“Help...me…”_ **

And then, the whole lab plunged into sickening red with alarm bells blaring from every direction. 

**“INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!”**

Oh shit,  **_oh fuck_ ** \- she had to get out of there now! It didn’t matter at this point if it was going to be a tight squeeze for Odin; she could not risk getting caught after getting this far and learning everything that she recorded. She shoved her Rotom phone in her pocket and let out her Alolan Raichu in the stuffy air vent. He clearly wasn’t pleased or comfortable with his current position, but based on the urgency of the alarms and his trainer’s frantic expression, he had no time to complain. 

“Odin! Use Teleport!” Juliet commanded desperately, clenching her eyes shut as she grabbed one of Odin’s paws and he somehow managed to teleport them out of the Power Plant and onto the outskirts of Hammerlocke. They clumsily landed in a bush, scaring off the Pokemon nearby as they quite literally appeared from thin air. 

“Ow, ow, ow!” She hissed painfully, recoiling in pain from landing right on her butt. Luckily Odin could levitate with ease so he was able to catch himself from crashing to the ground at the last second. 

“Raichu?” He asked worryingly as he extended his paw out to her. 

“I-I’m OK. Thank you, Odin. You really saved me back there.” Pulling out her Rotom phone, she checked to see if the video came out clear enough. Even though she was just there when it happened, she still couldn’t bring herself to believe the information she spied on no matter how many times she rewatched the recording. 

She had to tell someone - there were no two ways about it. 

This was a matter of life or death. 

Juliet scrambled out of the bush and sprinted to Hammerlocke, her heart pounding restlessly. She had to show Raihan the footage, she had to show it to Leon as well, hell, she needed the whole goddamn Pokemon League to know! They needed to know that they were working for the madman of a Chairman. 

She was so dead set on her current objective that she didn’t notice the missing keychain of the blue arrow of their team’s symbol, from her Rotom phone. 

* * *

“Is...Is this real?” Raihan uttered, holding Juliet’s phone in disbelief as the clip ended. It...It had to be some sick joke, right? All of this was happening right under his stadium and he was completely oblivious to it? It wasn’t his business to know what was going on in the Power Plant because he truly thought that it was just a place where workers maintained and monitored electricity and energy throughout the region - but now he felt responsible for being blissfully unaware that a diabolical plan was being orchestrated right under his nose. 

He thought it was  _ laughable _ by how much he didn’t know about his own Gym. 

“I can’t believe it either, honestly...Especially since…” Remembering how tortured Darkrai sounded made her eyes water. “...I know Darkrai and he was with me for awhile…”

“What?! Are you serious?! How?!”

“It’s a long story but, I can’t believe Rose would do that to him...he’s been through so much and now he’s being used as some puppet!”

“Shit...We need to tell the others. The bloody shoot can wait-”

“Ah! There they are! Raihan! Jules! Sorry for the wait!” Vanquil waved over, walking up to the Vault with Mary and Tessu following close behind him. Juliet didn’t waste another second and practically dragged her team inside and shoved her phone in their faces.

“Whoa! What’s the rush, Jules-”

“Watch.”

And just like Raihan, their faces slowly turned more horrified the longer they watched and listened that they were rendered completely speechless long after the clip had ended. 

“What...What do we do?” Tessu whispered fearfully. 

“We gotta tell the police! So many lives could be endangered!” Vanquil shouted. 

“I have to tell Leon about this too. The guy works the closest with him, for Arceus sake!” But just as Raihan pulled out his phone to send Leon the urgent text, his phone was swiped out of his hand from a Pokemon using Psychic, and hovered right into Chairman Rose’s hand. Oleana stood by as she always had with an unreadable expression on her constant poker face, but the face that Rose wore was that of absolute scorn. 

They were  **_fucked._ **

“What do you think you’re doing, Raihan?” Rose ordered, his calculative glare striking fear into their cores, but Raihan wasn’t going to let that deter him from deciding what was more important. Even knowing that he was putting his own job at risk. His mind was far away from thinking about his livelihood. It couldn’t possibly replace everything else that would be at risk if the Chairman’s plan came to fruition. 

“What? You going to fire me? Go ahead. I don’t care. That’s nothing compared to what you have planned, you bastard-!”

“Hmph. I figured as much. Oleana.”

Oleana sent out her Froslass. “Use Psychic.”

Froslass effortlessly froze all of them in the spot, making them squirm futility against the strong bind of the Pokemon’s power as they watched their phones being taken away, one by one, each of them being inspected by Chairman Rose and Oleana. When he got to Juliet’s phone, he smirked knowingly. He dangled her phone in front of her frozen body, along with the keychain that had broken off of her phone, that dangerously revealed herself as the intruder of the Power Plant. 

Juliet would have hung her head in despair if she could. 

“I’m disappointed in you, Juliet. You led your team well, got along swimmingly with the League members including Leon, and were so obedient. You’re one of the last people I’d expect to do something so outlandish and stupid. Do you take me for a  _ fool?” _

She opened her mouth to retort, but she couldn’t even speak. She had no choice but to helplessly watch Chairman Rose delete the video she recorded right in front of her eyes. Then, as if to make his point painfully clear, she felt her lungs forcefully tighten and she struggled to breathe. He leaned into close, his mouth ghosting over her ear, sending an icy chill down her neck.

“If you say a single word about this to Leon, I’ll do more than just eradicate your career and reputation.” He pulled back and sent equally chilling glares to the rest of the group. “That goes for the rest of you as well. I will not allow anyone to get in my way including Leon. If you value your lives and everyone else in the League, I expect you all to make the wise decision of remaining silent. Do I make myself abundantly clear?” The man had so much power and control over a majority of industries in the Galar region, and opposing him was like going up against a hundred man army by yourself. It was futile. And he knew it, which is why he didn’t need to hear what their answers were because they knew it too. 

In that moment, they felt so blind-sighted and powerless to how corrupt the business world actually was and how Chairman Rose, a businessman at heart, was always going to be driven by success alone. Maybe a part of him did genuinely care about the people of Galar, but his methods were so twisted and delusional that it was difficult to regard him as anything but villainous. 

When the weight of Psychic was finally lifted, they collapsed onto the ground, Juliet rasping and wheezing desperately for air while she watched the Chairman and Oleana leave the Vault with watery eyes and the despair of betrayal stabbed into her gut. She weakly reached out for her Rotom phone that was tossed onto the ground in front of her and just when she thought nothing could possibly make the situation any more shitty, Rose did more than just delete the video - he completely wiped everything from her phone’s memory. Photos, chat logs - everything that she saved and treasured over her travels. 

It was beyond cruel, considering her current predicament. 

“Rotom...are you OK?” Juliet coughed. 

“Bzzzzt...I think so…” 

“...Well, even if he got rid of everything, I’m glad you didn’t suffer either.”

“Zzzzzrt...I’m sorry for not doing more to protect your data....”

Juliet bit her lip and blinked through her tears. It hadn’t dawned on her of how much she lost, but now wasn’t the time to grieve. They had just witnessed Rose’s true nature and were subjected to his cruelty. There was no way they could go back to their normal everyday lives, working the jobs that were overlooked by someone like him. They, along with everyone else working for the Chairman in some way, were regarded in some shape or form as just another cog in a grander machine - one that can easily be replaced if they broke down or rebelled against the task that was given to them. 

It was a heavy realization to bear. 

“...How exactly do we move on from everything we’ve seen? I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t just not shut it out and pretend it didn’t-” Tessu began before being abruptly interrupted by Vanquil slapping a hand over her mouth, making her squirm and groan in protest. 

“Van…? What-”

“Shh!” Vanquil hissed and motioned them to cover the receiver part of their phones. Once they did, albeit confusingly, he shut down his phone and summoned the Rotom out of it completely. “Shut down your phones now and get your Rotoms out. While I was looking through my phone, I think a tracking and audio device were implanted in the background.”

“What the fuck,” Raihan swore. “Is Rose seriously going that far? And, how can you tell?”

“I noticed a lot of data and battery were being used for some reason, and when I went to check what was the cause, the phone said it was due to ‘background running apps’ even though he wiped my phone’s memory as well so there was nothing that could have been running.” Vanquil rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I’m interested in Rotom technology so I learned a lot about the security involved as well. I’m not a hacker, but my gut is telling me that this isn’t normal.” He motioned Rotom to use Spark to fry his phone completely in order to render it unusable. 

“B-But, wouldn’t that make Rose more suspicious of us if he sees we’re not using our phones?” Mary stammered. 

“That’s probably what his goal is. He wants us to feel paranoid to the point where we’re too scared to do anything. Besides, he can’t force us to use our phones and if he’s going to enlist his employees to come stalk us personally, well, I ain’t going to back down from a fight.” Juliet wheezed, still feeling light-headed from almost being suffocated to death. 

“...It’s kind of unsettling how composed you are despite going through all of that...” Tessu commented suspiciously, which made Juliet laugh dryly. Even if she didn’t have any tangible proof of what she saw, she wasn’t going to comply with Rose’s orders. This was serious and more people had to know what was going on. To hell with the cliches of hiding important information, thinking it was going to save their own butts and everyone else’s. Rose’s plan was  _ undoubtedly _ going to cause more damage if they didn’t do anything. The problem was that they no longer had evidence to back up their claims so going to the police or leaking what they saw was completely out of the question. 

The only thing they could do now was look for another way.

“Believe me, I’m just as scared, but no matter how foolproof his plan is, there will always be a weak spot - and I don’t know about you guys, but I’m done being pushed around by people like him.” Juliet rose to her feet, dropped her old phone onto the ground, and crushed it under her feet. This was a declaration of war in her eyes. She wasn’t going to sit back and let him make their life a living hell to make them submit with their silence. And, it looked like her determination was rubbing off on her friends as well, shattering their phones under their feet as well as they looked at each other with newfound resolve. 

“Alright, leader, what are your orders?” Raihan smirked, putting a hand on his hip. 

“For now, try to act natural and if you have to, lay low. There’s not much we can do if we end up being stalked so as long as we don’t give them a reason to do anything that would warrant an arrest or anything like that. If you need a new phone, I’d order one from overseas just to be safe.”

“And, what should we do about trying to prevent Rose’s plan?” Vanquil asked. 

Juliet breathed apprehensively before speaking. “I haven’t thought quite that far yet, but I already have someone in mind who I can call to help us out.”

“Really? Who?”

“You’ll see. For now, I think it would be a good idea to talk to Sonia about what we’ve learned about Dynamax. She’s been researching about the history of the Darkest Day so if she learns about the cause of Dynamax, then she’ll be able to piece together everything and maybe figure out a way to stop it if it does happen again.”

“In that case, if you’re in charge of the phone call, then leave Sonia to me, Mary, and Vanquil.” Tessu volunteered. 

“Sounds good. As for Raihan, as much as I’d hate to say this, it would be best if you don’t tell Leon unless it’s absolutely necessary.” There was a feeling in her gut that this decision was going to come bite her back, but it was a necessary decision if they wanted to be fully prepared for all the possible outcomes. 

“...I’d figured as much but something tells me the reason is more than just you wanting to save his arse.” 

“You catch on quick. The truth is, we don’t know how far along Rose’s plan is. All hell could break loose next week or even tomorrow, but the fact that he’s been withholding information from Leon for this long, I think Leon still has a role to play in his plans. Like a secret weapon or trump card.”

“I get it. So, you’re basically assuming that Rose’s plan is ready to go at any time, but he needs Leon in some way in order to execute it. We don’t want Leon to give Rose a reason to set things off too early before we’re even ready for it.” Raihan scratched the back of his head. “I feel bad keeping him in the dark like this especially since he wants to know what’s going on as much as we did.”

Juliet clenched her fist. “I know how you feel. Leon might be able to put up an act, but he’s closer to Rose than all of us and I don’t think he can switch his loyalty that easily. And, seeing as you’re his best friend, I’m sure you’ve noticed how stressed he is right now with the upcoming Champion Cup hanging over his head.”

“I agree. Knowing Leon, he’d probably still try to believe that there’s still good in him. I don’t think it’d be easy for anyone to turn on someone who basically raised them.” Raihan cracked his knuckles, feeling his blood pumping from the precarious situation they were in, but he had full faith that they could do it. “I guess it’s up to me to convince the rest of the League. And don’t worry, I’ll make sure they don’t make themselves obvious. We need all the help we can get. And if anyone tries to stop us, well, I’ll give them one hell of a fight.”

“We’re counting on you, Raihan. For right now, let’s just get this shoot over with and keep each other posted over the next few days. But keep it to in-person interactions for vital information.”

“I feel you. If Oleana can place tracking devices on our phones, who knows what else she’s capable of when it comes to tracking.” Vanquil noted. 

“Right. Then, if everyone knows what their job is, then the mission has officially begun.”

* * *

“Leon.”

“Chairman.”

There was still a lingering tension in the air from yesterday’s confrontation with Chairman Rose and Leon wouldn’t say he was feeling any better about how Rose was operating his company, and his reputation, behind his back. His initial anger and disbelief was replaced with confliction - he didn’t know how he was supposed to act around the Chairman now that he opened his eyes to his obvious flaws. He was so young and vulnerable when he swept up the title of Champion and without any sort of guidance, he didn’t know how he could represent the region of Galar and become a trainer that everyone could look up to. As much as he wanted to solely praise his raw power and tactical mind for leading him this far, that wasn’t the case. Chairman Rose practically adopted the role of a fatherly figure when his own father left, so he could go on and reach greater opportunities through his own influence and connections. 

It was a harsh reality to come to terms with, that your hard work does pay off in its own way, but it’s knowing the right people through networking that really gets your foot through the door and fast tracks you to the front of the line. 

Chairman Rose always made sure he was first, even if it meant crushing the competition. 

But, Leon  _ despised _ it. He’d playfully taunt and provoke his opponents before every battle but at the end of the day, he was still a good sport and wanted battles to be treated fairly. And, that attitude extended to his everyday life. He will always be grateful for the sights he got to see, the people he got to meet over his 13 year reign, but if Chairman Rose had to bribe his way through, then those exchanges will always be tainted with dishonesty. 

“I hope you’re still not cross with me from the other day.”

“...No. I’m not, Chairman. I shouldn’t have lashed out like that.” It was a lie, but he didn’t want Rose to think he was childish for holding onto a grudge. He was an adult, maybe not a mature one, but an adult nevertheless, and he still had the responsibility of acting like one. 

“I forgive you, Leon. The Champion Cup is only two weeks away so you’re probably just a little stressed. You always get fired up around this time of year, no?”

“You’re probably right, Chairman. How are preparations?”

Rose swiveled around in his executive chair so he was turned away from Leon and facing the tall glass window panes of his office. “They’re going smoothly. We’re actually ahead of schedule, you could say.”

“Really? That’s good to hear. Is there anything else you need help with?”

“Not at the moment, but I do have a question for you.”

“And, that is?”

Chairman Rose swiveled back to face Leon and folded his arms over his desk, staring intently at the Champion. “Will you help me with a plan that could save Galar’s future?”

The abruptness of the question sent a shock down Leon’s spine and his hands began to clam up. But, it was a question that he kept at the back of his mind and Rose was finally going to address it. “Galar’s future?”

“Indeed. We have an abundance of energy and resources now, but who’s to say that that will last forever? We need a plan for the future generations so they can thrive just as we are right now.”

“What does this plan entail exactly?”

The business man smiled forebodingly and nonchalantly folded his arms over his desk, fingers rhythmically tapping his desk in contemplation. “I’ll let you know soon enough. I promise. For now, can I trust that I have your full support?”

Leon felt like he was being binded into a contract - a contract he was not allowed to say no to. His stomach shifted uncomfortably and his throat went dry. If this was for the benefit of Galar’s future, it was hardly a question that he wouldn’t give his full support. But, the way the Chairman smiled - it made his back break out into a cold sweat from how...unnerving it was. There was something hiding behind Rose’s chilling smile and he found himself growing more wary of him as their interactions dragged on. And, he didn't know if he was imagining things but, behind his cold, emerald gaze, he swore he saw something cloudy flash through his eyes. It felt...dangerous. He didn’t want to see how he would react if he said no. 

“...Of course, Chairman.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, it may seem like I'm laying down all the secrets in this chapter but, if only you guys knew what else is coming oho :^)
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading this chapter and feel free to leave a kudo and comment if you'd like!
> 
> See ya'll next week!


	21. Strings of Trust and Doubt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juliet receives an important call from an old acquaintance and struggles to keep the truth of what she knows for Leon's sake and well-being. 
> 
> Meanwhile, Sonia and Magnolia are shocked to learn about Rose's plan and it's a race against time to understand the origins of the Darkest Day and Dynamax so they can put a stop to it.

**Chapter 15: Strings of Trust and Doubt**

****

* * *

_ “What’s wrong, Maya? It’s usually me who’s sulking.” _

_ In the centre of the field of forget-me-nots, was a tree, standing tall and lush, with a wooden porch swing dangling from flowery vines. Maya was sat comfortably on Juliet’s lap as they sat together on the porch swing, but the little girl was void of her usual contagious cheer. Her small hands were cradled on top of Juliet’s palms before folding up into tight fists. She choked out a sob and she tried to fight the tears that began to pour on her lap.  _

_ “I…” _

_ Juliet carefully shifted the girl around so she could cry into her chest, and gingerly stroked her hair as her wails rang louder throughout her dreamland.  _

_ “Let it out, Maya. It’s OK to cry.” _

_ “B-But-!” Maya hiccuped. “I-I hate it…” _

_ “I don’t think anyone likes crying, but it’s good to cry. You’re letting out everything that you don’t want to keep bottled up.” _

_ Maya sniffled. “W-When you couldn’t breath because of that scary Pokemon, I couldn’t breathe either. It...It reminded me of my illness.” She clutched to the front of her Champion outfit. “And mommy and daddy weren’t here to hug me…” _

_ Juliet pulled Maya’s head back gently to wipe her tears with her thumb. Thinking about it now, how long had Maya been with her? Maybe as long as Darkrai has? However long she was with her, no doubt she was missing her parents just as much. And, she knew it wouldn’t be as simple as telling the little girl to move on so she could finally be with them. Maya was a strange one, but it was clear that she adored life, and wanted to keep clinging to it as long as she could.  _

_ Even if it meant another day without her parents.  _

_ “That was scary, but don’t worry. I’m not your mom or dad, but I’ll make sure nothing bad happens to me or you.” _

_ Maya looked up at her with tear-stained, but hopeful eyes. “Promise?” _

_ “Promise.” _

_ The little girl finally smiled and snuggled further into Juliet’s arms. “I wanna take a nap. Can you sing me that song you were humming before?” _

_ “Even if I don’t sing that well?” _

_ “I like hearing your voice. Please?” _

_ “Alright.” Juliet hugged the little girl close and swayed her body, like gentle waves. She left a chaste kiss on Maya’s forehead before quietly singing the song that her aunt used to sing to her whenever she woke up from a bad dream.  _

_ When daytime turns to night, and the moon shines bright _ _  
_ _ When you’re tucked in tight, when everything’s alright _ _  
_ _ Slip softly to that place, where secret thoughts run free _ _  
_ _ And, there come face to face, with who you want to be so _ _  
_ _  
_ _ Swim across the ocean blue _ _  
_ _ Fly a rocket to the moon _ _  
_ _ You can change your life, or you can change the world _ _  
_ _ Take a chance, don;t be afraid _ _  
_ _ Life is yours to live _ _  
_ _ Take a chance, and then the best has yet to come… _

_ Feeling the gentle rise and fall from Maya’s slumbering form, Juliet never ceased the light rocking like a parent would for their precious child. It didn’t exactly matter anymore but she couldn’t help but wonder anyway - did her parents cradle her with fondness before? Before holding so many expectations for her future self, there must have been moments where that didn’t matter to them. All they thought about was taking care and loving her. There was no way of knowing and she was undoubtedly too young to remember such times, but now more than ever did she want to protect those who were dear to her. _

_ Even if it meant lying to some of them. _

* * *

**_RING RING RING RING RING_ **

It felt strange holding the brick-like excuse for a cell phone that her uncle had given to her ages ago as a back-up in case of an emergency. It was one of her uncle’s own personal inventions that could only make calls, but he made it as a prototype for a device that could make calls from just about anywhere in the world without having to worry about signal issues or privacy. But, because it was a prototype, it took up a lot of battery depending on how far the calls were being made so it wasn’t exactly convenient to carry around. 

And with the call being from Hoenn, Juliet would have to charge it the moment the call ended. She wasn’t going to take any chances of using her home phone for a highly confidential call such as this. 

“Hello?”

_ “Good morning, Juliet. It’s been awhile!” _

“It has! Sorry for calling you out of the blue, Anabel.”

_ “That’s alright. I figured it was something important for you to try to reach me so suddenly.” _

“Thanks for understanding. There’s...some sketchy stuff happening in Galar that I wonder if you can look into - being part of the international police and all.”

_ “Sketchy stuff? You’ll have to elaborate since I can’t take on missions for just any reason. We may know each other, but I can’t guarantee I can do what you want me to.” _

“Don’t worry, I understand. I was honestly hesitant about reaching out to begin with but I thought it was wise to at least get some advice.”

_ “It sounds serious if you have to turn to me for advice. No need to hold back for my sake. What’s going on?” _

“Well…” Juliet swallowed anxiously. “Have you heard of Chairman Rose?”

* * *

“...Did something happen, Raihan?”

“Huh? What makes you say that, mate?”

“Your Rotom phone isn’t flying around you like it usual is.”

Raihan choked on his water and coughed it off before instinctively reaching into his pocket to pull out the aforementioned phone, only to mentally kick himself upon remembering that he didn’t have anything in his pocket. Talk about old habits dieing hard. He nonchalantly rubbed the back of his neck with the same hand in an effort to look casual like he usually did and not keeping a dire secret about Chairman Rose’s evil scheme from the Champion.

“I’m actually waiting for my new phone! You know me - I like to keep up with what’s new and hot, you know?”

“Didn’t you just get the model that you had?” Leon asked with a raised eyebrow.

Raihan waved off the comment. “I think I’ll like this one better.”

“That reminds me,” Leon started. “You’ve been doing shoots with Raid Prism for the past few days, right? Has Juliet been OK?”

“Yeah, I have. There have been some issues with the filming so it’s taking longer than usual. Juliet’s been fine. Why?”

“She messaged me a couple days ago about wanting to talk and I messaged back but, I haven’t gotten a response from her.”

“Ahh, I guess she would have no way of telling you this but, her phone broke on the first day of the shoot so, I think she’s waiting to get it replaced.” Raihan replied smoothly, hoping that Leon wouldn’t find it suspicious that both of their phones were out of commission. But, Leon was a lot sharper than he looked, and it came from a place of knowing his best friend and Juliet more than he let on.

Or maybe it came from the cumulative stress that only seemed to pile higher as the days go on, which made him second guess everything that was being done or said to him. 

“Then, why didn’t you tell me that when she told you? I can’t imagine you being without a phone for a few days-”

“G-Good things come to those who wait! Besides, I can still check all of that at home on my computer. You make me sound like a social media addict.”

“S-Sorry, I guess I’m feeling a bit anxious with the Champion Cup around the corner.”

“You? Anxious? That’s a first-”

“Cut me some slack, Raihan. Chairman Rose didn’t tell me exactly what he was up to, but he did ask me a pretty serious question.” Leon trailed off forebodingly. 

Raihan sat up right on the work-out bench, alarm bells ringing in his ears. “What did he ask?”

“He asked me, ‘Will you help me with a plan that could save Galar’s future?’”?”

The Dragon Tamer gulped. “That’s not ominous at all.”

“But, I finally feel closer to knowing what Rose has planned and how. He’s building up to something big. I can feel it.”

_ Big was an understatement _ , Raihan thought to himself. 

“Anyway, thinking about it too hard won’t get me anywhere. I guess if Juliet doesn’t have a phone right now, I should just see her in person-” Leon reached for his work-out bag and slung a towel around his sweat matted neck. Raihan shot up from the bench and blocked the entrance of the gym with his towering form. 

“You’re seriously going to see her without taking a shower first?!”

“I don’t think she’ll mind-”

“Come on, mate! Have some class! No one likes a man with B.O.!”

“I don’t have time! She might have a shift at the Battle Cafe and I want to catch her before she has to work!” Leon pushed past Raihan and briskly walked out of the gym and started to jog the rest of the way to Juliet’s flat. Once Leon was completely out of sight, Raihan let out a big sigh of relief. Acting wasn’t his strong suit, especially towards his best friend, that pretending that nothing was wrong, started to eat away at him with anxiety. But, he had an important role to play and he wasn’t going to make their efforts go down the drain. 

“Alright. I’ve already managed to convince Milo, Nessa, Kabu, Bea, and Allister. But...with Bede as Opal’s new successor, he’s going to be hard to persuade especially since he was basically Rose’s kid…”

He still had a long way to go.

* * *

_ “Hmmm...That does sound urgent. Even though you don’t have physical evidence to back up what you saw, I can’t imagine you doing something so reckless on a whim. Not to mention, if there have been documented incidents linked to what the Chairman is doing, then that’s worth investigating on its own especially if civilian safety has been at risk. He’s not above the law, and he can’t just do things even if it’s for a greater purpose.” _

“So...Does that mean you’ll look into it?”

_ “I can’t make any promises because I’ll have to do more research and make a convincing case so the higher ups can officially send me to Galar, but I’ll do everything I can, Juliet.” _

“Thank you, Anabel...I really appreciate it. I’m scared of what’s to come but I trust you.”

_ “I trust you too. If I had more power and authority, I would not hesitate to fly over right now.” _

“I know, Anabel. You’re doing your job and you’re just following protocol.”

_ “Thank you for understanding, Juliet. I’ll contact you immediately on what my orders are. For now, try to stay calm and go about your day to day so you don’t draw suspicion.” _

“I’ll try. Take care then, Anabel!”

_ “You too, Juliet.” _

Upon hanging up, she heard knocking coming from her front door, making her frantically throw on a sweater and pat down her bed head to make herself look somewhat presentable to whoever was at her door so early in the morning. Her eyes widened upon seeing Leon standing at her front door, still in his work-out attire, through the peephole. She probably should have expected to be confronted by him eventually from basically ignoring his texts that he probably sent to her old phone. 

She opened her front door and shot him a small smile. “What can I help you with on this fine morning, good sir?”

Leon snorted. “Good day, madam. I was hoping we could have a quick chat over tea?”

Juliet rolled her eyes. “Tea time in a tank top? Not very tactful are you, Lee?”

“I just came back from working out with Raihan. You’re not busy are you?”

“No, but I’ll let you in on one condition.”

“And that is?”

“Please take a shower.”

* * *

“No rush, Champ, but are you almost done in there?” Juliet gently knocked on the door. 

“Yeah, I’m just drying my hair right now.”

“Need some help?”

“Actually...” Leon looked down at her comb that became a bit...abused by how many knots were in his hair. He laughed nervously. “I may have to buy you a new comb, J.” He unlocked the door and allowed her in and she stared at her comb with a grimace.

“Arceus, Leon. Is your hair a Tangela or something? Gimme.” She snatched the comb from his hand and pulled out as much of his hair as possible and tossed the pile into the trash. Juliet picked up the hair dryer with her free hand and began to carefully comb, dry, and untangle his hair. When was the last time he visited a barber?! He must spend at least an hour on his hair for it to look as beautiful as it did on a regular basis.

“Have you ever thought about cutting your hair? Not that it isn’t nice as it is but you’d be saving a lot of combs and shampoo.” She joked while combing through a particularly hard knot in his hair. Looking at his reflection in the bathroom mirror, his eyes were closed and his mouth hung open slightly. He must have been pretty relaxed because the small laugh that came out of him sounded breathless.

“Haven’t had time, really. I do get it trimmed every now and then but this is the image that I have to uphold as Champion.” Truth be told, he let it grow once he became Champion when he was 10 and at that tender age, he was pretty stubborn about appointments and deadlines so he refused any suggestions about going to a barber unless it’s to trim his hair. He couldn’t really imagine himself with short hair now that he was an adult.

“I guess it would be weird if you suddenly walked into a crowd full of roaring fans with half of your hair gone.” She mused. His hair was mostly dry and she could finally get a feel of how soft it was. And it had more volume than her own. Perhaps she would volunteer herself as his personal hairdresser because she definitely didn’t plan “dry and comb Leon’s hair” in her schedule for the day. After a few more minutes, she pulled away and chucked her Leon-hair-abused comb into the trash.

“There. A moment of silence for my comb’s sacrifice though.”

“I said I’d buy you another one.”

“You did and I’m holding you to it. Come, I made breakfast for you too.” Once she put her hair dryer away, she motioned him to take a seat at the small dining table in the living area. She returned from the kitchen with two plates of toast, eggs, sausages, hash browns, and small bowls of fresh berries. This was only the second time he was having a meal at Juliet’s place but, Leon almost felt like Raihan in that moment – he wanted to take out his Rotom phone to take a photo and post it, but he knew he’d get bombarded with messages on where he ate at or who cooked for him. He didn’t really know where the impulse came from, but then again; he didn’t have much cooking experience once he started living on his own and turned to granola bars and fruit in the morning, and then eating out for lunch and dinner. 

Perhaps it was his way of showing gratitude towards a good, home-made meal since he basically moved out of his home in Postwick and therefore, didn’t get to fully appreciate his mom’s home-cooked meals when he did have them. Even with all the stresses that were looming over him, he treasured these seemingly mundane moments of rest. 

“Thanks. You didn’t have to, though.”

“Don’t say that. I bet you’ve been skipping meals because of the Champion Cup coming up.”

“Well...Not outright skipping but sometimes I’d only eat an energy bar.” Leon admitted with a dry chuckle. 

“That’s it?! That’s not good for you especially if you work out!” Juliet gawked in surprise. She poured two cups of Pecha Berry tea and plopped herself on one of the stools that surrounded her little kitchen island. “Hope you don’t mind Pecha Berry tea! I would have asked if you wanted coffee instead but I ran out-”

Leon followed suit and sat next to her. “That’s alright. I’m technically not allowed to drink too much coffee anyway.”

“Why?”

The Champion flashed her a wide grin that showed off his perfectly white teeth. “Can’t have it staining my teeth. The Chairman will make sure I don’t hear the end of it.”

“Huh...On the plus side, you have great teeth. On the other hand, it must be a pain to have to watch out for that.”

Leon took a big bite into his toast. “You get used to it after a while. Anyway, about a few days ago…”

“Right...I’m sorry about how I acted. Being bombarded by the media reminded me a lot of what I experienced back then…” Juliet nibbled on an Oran berry absentmindedly. “It didn’t bother me that my team and Raihan weren’t given credit for helping keep the city of Hammerlocke, safe. What did bother me, was the fact they did it to sell their version of the story.”

“I’m sorry…”

She playfully shoved his shoulder. “I’m not blaming you for that, dummy. I’m the one who should be sorry for giving you the cold shoulder even though I knew it wasn’t your fault. I just…” She gently blew over her hot cup of team and closed her eyes contemplatively. “I don’t want to give the media any excuse to talk badly about you. You know how much they love to over-analyze and blow things out of proportion. I don’t want to go down that lane but...they turn into leeches at any sign of an affair.”

“A-Affair?” Leon choked on his tea and his face flushed a bright red. 

She definitely regretted saying that. “It sounds outlandish, I know. But, if they’re going to over-analyze the situation, we have to be just as on guard.”

“...It sounds like you’re speaking from experience - the affair part, I mean.”

“No, nothing like that. I was 11 when I was Champion so they couldn’t pull that crap even if they tried. But...it’s one of those moments where once you’ve seen one side of things, you’ve basically seen them all or can have a pretty good idea of what the other sides entail. I don’t want to let my guard down and neither should you.”

It...it felt like Leon was talking to a completely different person. Sure, Juliet had her moments where she could switch from being playful and funny, to serious and retrospective, but...he had never seen her act so...cold and calculating. 

Like, she was internally bracing herself for something. 

Why else would she physically and verbally act so guarded?

“...Is everything OK?” He asked quietly. Juliet blinked and stared at him blankly, mid-bite. He noticed that she had switched back to her usual relaxed self. Ugh, sometimes she was unpredictable that he couldn’t get a good read on her. 

“I’m alright! Where did that come from?”

“Maybe I’m just imagining things but even with Raihan, you seem a bit...off.”

She swallowed thickly from his light scrutiny. He was a lot more perceptive than she gave him credit for but she wasn’t going to crumble under the pressure especially knowing she was doing it for his sake. It terrified her, thinking about how he’d react to the revelation and what he would do. She knew him well enough that if the situation was dangerous, he was more than willing to throw himself into the middle of it because he didn’t want it to be someone else’s problem. 

Still...It felt so wrong to leave him in the dark when he cared about Galar from the bottom of his heart.

Juliet placed her hand on his shoulder and tried to smile reassuringly so he couldn’t tell that she was lying. “I’m fine, Lee. Don’t worry. Let’s just say...I have some suspicions on what the Chairman has been up to.”

Leon's eyes widened and he gripped the hand that was on his shoulder. “Did you find something?!”

“Not exactly. I noticed the other day that while some Pokemon were loading up boxes to be brought into the Power Plant, one of the boxes tipped over and out poured Wishing Pieces.”

“Wishing Pieces…? What is Rose doing with them and why?”

“I don’t know but, just be careful, OK?” She really should have worded that better, because it clearly sounded like she was giving him a warning for something dangerous rather than giving him a false sense of security. 

“Be careful? Why are you warning me like Rose is doing something bad? Is there something you’re not telling me?” Leon demanded, now gripping her shoulders a bit too tightly. 

Shit. _Shit._ **_Shit_** **.** “I-I’m just warning you because of all the explosions that occurred from his experiments. It might happen again.”

His eyes narrowed. “Are you sure? Because, if you saw something, I want you to tell me. You trust me, right…?”

Juliet’s heart twisted painfully and it was getting increasingly harder to hold back from the truth. At the very least, she wanted to get Sonia’s input to get a better grasp of what exactly they were up against. It wasn’t enough to just tell him the truth of what she really saw - she wanted there to be a foundation for the truth, so it would be easier for him to accept and rationalize the gravity of it. Her words and memory only held so much strength and accountability that for someone like Leon, she trusted that he would believe her but there was more she had to do and he already had too much on his plate as it is. 

She had to pick her words carefully - something that would make him understand that she knew more than she let on but that he would be told everything when the time was right. 

“I do trust you, Leon, but I want to be absolutely sure I have evidence to back up what might be going on behind the scenes. The last thing I want, is to give you false information and have you stress yourself out over it. I promise to tell you everything I know once I have a better idea of the situation. Don’t worry, I’m not doing this alone.”

Leon’s shoulders relaxed considerably and he released his grip on her shoulders. He really wanted to know. He had to know, but...he needed to realize that there were things that he couldn’t do. The fact that she had to reassure him that she wasn’t alone - that they weren’t alone - it was telling that whatever Rose had planned was something that one person couldn’t possibly handle on their own.

He had his own role to play, and Juliet had hers. 

“...OK. Just...don’t do anything reckless that will put yourself in danger. And when the time comes, I want you to tell me what role I will play in your plan.”

Juliet couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Already volunteering yourself? Sounds like you’ve been playing that game I lent you.”

“Well, you are someone who’s good at analyzing situations and people from different angles - it’s only right that you’d be the tactician.” Leon added with an amused grin. 

“Time to tip the scales-” She quoted with a snort. 

“Speaking of scales, except not that kind - Charizard has something he wants to give to Tiki.” Leon tossed out his Charizard in the living room, revealing his beloved ace with his arm fully healed and only a pale scar remained. Juliet’s heart relaxed at the sight of his fiery companion, all healed up and as fierce as ever. And then her gaze dropped to the small box he held in his claws. 

“Hey Charizard! I’m so glad you’re all better now.” She cooed, making the fire dragon hum happily in agreement and letting her cradle his snout. She stood back to give room for her Flygon to stretch her wings comfortably in the small, yet cozy space that was her flat. Upon noticing Charizard, Tiki made several happy cries especially from seeing him in a much better shape. 

But, then suddenly, Charizard’s mood completely shifted and his head was turned away bashfully as he fumbled with the small gift in his shaking claws. Leon stifled a snicker in his knuckles, which made his Pokemon huff at him annoyingly. Tiki tilted her head quizzically and nudged the present with her nose before pointing at herself. Charizard’s cheeks were bright red when he thrust his arms out to present the gift out for her to take. The Flygon smiled brightly and gently took the present before opening the lid, and crying out eagerly. 

“So, what did you get, Tiki?” Juliet wondered, peering over her Flygon’s shoulder to peer into the box, which revealed a bright red silk ribbon that was lined in gold. She grinned knowingly. “A new ribbon for your antenna! It looks even prettier than the one you had before! Here, let me help you put it on!”

Juliet plucked the ribbon from the box and wrapped it around one of Tiki’s antennae and carefully tied it into a lovely bow. “There we go! Do you like it?”

TIki responded by affectionately nuzzling her nose against Charizard’s cheek in appreciation and cooing adoringly to the Pokemon. Juliet would do anything to know what her Pokemon was saying, but based on how Charizard returned Tiki’s affections in the same manner, it didn’t take a genius to understand what was going on between them. She shot Leon a glance, and it seemed like he came to the same conclusion based on his wide smile. 

Rather than tease them though, she decided to give them a moment of peace and returned to her seat beside Leon. Still, she couldn’t help but giggle to herself and nudged Leon’s arm. “I’ll let you know if Tiki lays an egg.”

Leon spat out his tea. 

* * *

Sonia nearly dropped her cute Yamper mug. “What?! Rose is planning on causing the Darkest Day?!”

“Shhhhhhh!” Vanquil hissed. “Do you want your neighbours and your grandma to hear?!”

“I’m afraid you’re a bit too late for that.” Professor Magnolia strolled in with her cane and cup of tea in hand. 

“P-Professor, we-” Tessu stuttered.

“Calm down, everyone. I only heard the last bit based on Sonia’s outburst, but please explain to me what happened. Slowly.” Professor Magnolia requested sternly.

Mary took a deep breath. “...Juliet snuck into the Power Plant and was able to record footage of some scientists and the Chairman talk about a plan that would create an unlimited supply of energy to the Galar region. But, in order to do that, he’s going to harness the power of a creature called Eternatus to bring about the Darkest Day.”

Professor Magnolia closed her eyes and pursed her lips anxiously. “...It seems that my suspicions were correct.”

“You knew, Gran?!” Sonia gasped. 

“Not exactly. Remember about a week ago when a Dynamaxed Pokemon wreaked havoc in Hammerlocke? Before that, the Chairman had asked me about the relationship to the red light of Power Spots to the Dynamax Phenomenon. After all, the only way for Pokemon to Dynamax is to be directly in a Power Spot’s presence. I was able to go into the Power Plant, but he refused to show me the main part of the Power Plant, which I assumed to be just a generator, despite how obsessed he was about Galar’s energy supply. I knew he was experimenting, but I couldn’t help him if he wasn’t willing to show me what he was working on.” The elderly Professor rubbed her tempers in stress. “To think he was holding Eternatus captive all this time for such an outlandish purpose.”

“B-But, how in the world was he able to capture that thing?! It was huge from what we saw!” Tessu exclaimed. 

“Do you perhaps still have that footage?” Professor Magnolia asked. 

Vanquil shook his head. “No...The Chairman ended up finding out pretty quickly and threatened us if we told anyone what we saw.”

“Why don’t you call the police?! You’re risking your lives by telling us-!” Sonia yelled alarmingly. Before Sonia could even dial the number, her grandma stuck her hand out and lowered her granddaughter’s phone with a shake of her head. 

“I’m afraid without any evidence, they won’t do anything, especially if it involves Chairman Rose.”

“But-!”

“I know what you’re thinking, Sonia, but stay calm and think about it. Chairman Rose has more power than many of us realize, and his influence is undeniable. The people of this region think highly of him that without any concrete evidence, he can’t be charged.” Professor Magnolia explained with a deep frown. 

“That’s...That’s so unfair…” Sonia muttered. It was unfair, but they didn’t want to give up from not telling anyone who could believe them. Even if the chances were slim, it was better than doing absolutely nothing. They weren’t going to give Rose the satisfaction of feeling like he was above everyone else. 

“Even if the police can’t help us, there’s still things we can do - it’s too early to give up!” Mary announced standing up from her seat. “That’s what Juliet would have said if she were here.”

“She’s right. I can’t in good conscience allow Rose to take advantage of another Pokemon’s power to bring about a devastating event. Regardless of how powerful a Pokemon is, it’s our job as Pokemon Professors to research unknown Pokemon, so we can protect it and the people around it so we can co-exist peacefully.” Professor Magnolia turned to her granddaughter. “Sonia, there’s a research paper that briefly mentions the existence of a meteorite that could be linked to the Dynamax phenomenon.”

“There is?! How come I’ve never heard about it?!”

“The paper has been heavily scrutinized since traces of the power were found in residue from smaller rocks that burnt up in our atmosphere, but the meteorite in question is nowhere to be found so many scientists assume there is no meteorite to begin with.”

Sonia narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “That sounds like a cover-up.”

“Possibly. I’ll leave that to you. As for you three - why don’t you give Sonia a hand with finding what she needs? In the event that you three are being monitored to make sure you’re on your best behaviour, it’s safer for you to remain here for the time being. They have no reason to barge in and cause a ruckus in a Pokemon Lab. I’ll make sure of it.” Professor Magnolia offered with a reassuring grin. Tessu, Mary, and Vanquil let out a sigh of relief at the Professor’s generosity. 

“Thank you, Professor. We’ll stay for the rest of the day but we don’t want to draw any suspicions if we are being watched.” Tessu replied.

“I understand, but know that you’re safe here if you ever need a place to go. It’s the least I can do after all that you’ve done for me in collecting Gigantamax Pokemon.”

* * *

Anabel walked briskly through the halls of the International Police HQ, with her heels clicking behind her with purpose. She replayed all the different ways to bring up what Juliet had told her over and over in deciding which made the more convincing case. She had seen her fair share of kidnappings, crime rings, ransoms, and blackmail, but part of her wasn’t all that surprised that a businessman with seemingly good intentions and a good track record could be up to something behind the scenes. It wasn’t wise to assume, but there was no denying the behavioral patterns that came from people with incredible wealth and power.

Chairman Rose was no exception. 

She had done some research into his early life and the start of his career, but she was mainly concerned with his earnings and tax returns. If he was conducting experiments, then that meant he was investing some sum of money into those endeavors, and how he was writing them off. Every year, he would invest a large sum of money towards some sort of energy project, which one wouldn’t bat an eye at since renewable energy was on the rise across the world. 

But, then, she discovered something in the data that made her raise both eyebrows. 

A notably larger sum of money that wasn’t accounted for from over 10 years ago. 

At first, she wrote it off as a generous donation to a private charity that perhaps didn’t want to be named since Chairman Rose would often donate to charities under the Macros Cosmos name, but that conclusion didn’t sit right with her. She researched and researched articles about the company within the last 10 years to find any crumb of evidence that would indicate where the money went into, but there was nothing to be found. 

But articles written by mainstream media were hardly enough. 

She had to dig deeper. 

And that’s when it dawned on her - what was it like living in Galar for the last 10 years? If there was anything that the citizens of Galar were troubled by, there was a slight chance that local news outlets wouldn’t bother covering them. On the surface, it seemed like there wasn’t anything to be gained from menial complaints of rowdy neighbours and petty theft caused by mischievous Pokemon, but there was always going to be something.

A pattern of the same kind of complaints that covered up something bigger. 

What she discovered made her eyes nearly pop out of their sockets from the revelation and she quickly compiled everything to be printed and shoved into a folder for presenting her case. And that’s where Anabel was now. Folder tucked under her arms and standing outside of her boss’ office. She took a few deep breaths and just as she was about the knock on the door, 

“Chief! There you are!”

Anabel flinched in surprise and turned to address the familiar man in his signature long brown trench coat. “Looker. What can I help you with?”

Looker held up a black folder of his own that had the word ‘CONFIDENTIAL’ written on the front in bright red. Anabel internally cursed to herself. That meant they were being tasked with a new assignment and she had to put her promise to Juliet on hold until it was taken care of. 

“Your boss was looking all over for you to give us our new assignment. Where were you?”

“I was doing some research in the archives. Did you already have a look at what our task is?”

“I took a quick look and we’re being ordered to head out to Galar bright and early tomorrow.”

Anabel blinked. “Did you say Galar?”

“That’s right. It seems like there’s been a case of rampaging Dynamax Pokemon within the last few weeks and based on how the higher ups are monitoring the situation, they felt like it was enough cause for concern based on the amount of complaints they’re getting by civilians and law enforcement alike.” Looker explained before handing Anabel the folder to sift through herself. Well, this was one hell of a coincidence, but Anabel would count her blessings for being able to go to Galar as she had hoped. 

“What a coincidence. Earlier today, I had a phone call with an old friend of mine who told me the very same things that are happening within the region, and she even knows who’s behind it all.”

Looker’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding! Does she have special connections to get a hold of such information?”

“It’s nothing like that, but I’ll tell you during our flight tomorrow. For now, come with me to my office and let’s go over a timeline of our course of action the moment our plane lands. We don’t have a second to waste.” 

“Understood, Chief!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my favourite post-game story segments is the one in Sun and Moon where you were tasked with catching all the Ultra Beasts for Anabel and Looker and I've always been interested in their dynamic so I'm glad I was able to implement them into my story! When I was writing this months ago, I actually didn't realize that Anabel was one of the Frontier Brains so knowing that definitely helped tie the loose knot of how Juliet and Anabel would even know each other. 
> 
> In next week's chapter, you guys will finally learn everything that Rose was doing behind the scenes that have led him into getting a hold of Eternatus in the first place!
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading this week's update and feel free to leave a kudos and or a comment if you'd like!


	22. Countdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anabel uncovers what she discovered of what Chairman Rose had been doing for the past 10 years that led up to him holding Eternatus captive.

**Chapter 16: Countdown**

* * *

_“I’m worried about Darkrai…”_

_“I am too but, don’t worry - I’m going to save him.”_

_“How?”_

_Juliet bit her lip anxiously, stopping in the middle of braiding Maya’s hair. How was she going to save Darkrai? She had been so preoccupied with keeping her nerves in check, and documenting everyone’s progress, that she realized that they hadn’t even started with formulating a plan on how to prevent Rose’s scheme from behind the scenes. If anything, they were preparing themselves for the worst case scenario._

_Evacuation, shelter, rations - all the necessities to minimize as many casualties as possible because Arceus knows how many people were going to get hurt or worse from the fall out. She couldn’t help but meticulously plan everything as if she was going off to war - it might as well be and she favoured being over prepared than under-prepared._

_She really hoped that Sonia and Professor Magnolia could figure out the origins of The Darkest Day, Eternatus, and Dynamax enough to have some ideas of how to prevent it. Juliet trusted them. She had to. It wasn’t her place to stress out over matters that were outside of her expertise._

_Still...the lingering worry of what Darkrai was going through right now...Every second that passed on the clock was another second of suffering that he was going through. She wanted to act now and act fast, but again, she had to keep herself grounded, for everyone’s sake._

_It was so hard._

_“I...I don’t know but, we’re going to figure something out.”_

_“...You’re kind of amazing, Juliet.” Maya complimented with a small smile. “Even though you don’t know the answer, you still try so hard to find it.”_

_Juliet laughed dryly. “I’m just...I’m just doing what I can. I’ve spent so much of my life living idly by that I've gotten too comfortable with doing the bare minimum. Or, at least I’ve always thought I was doing the bare minimum. So, whenever someone told me about their problems and I’d give them advice, I never fully realized just how powerful my words could be. I never realized just how much I was actually helping them. I grew up believing that you had to do something grand in order to be deserving of things like praise and gratitude.” Juliet smiled to herself when she tied the end of Maya’s braid into a neat bow. “But...I don’t want to take anyone’s praise for granted anymore. It’s not fair to the other person to not look them in the eyes and truly let them know that you’re thankful for their words. So...I wanted to give back to everyone who has helped me, by doing all I can to protect them. Who would believe in a leader who didn’t believe in themselves?”_

_Maya was silent throughout her impromptu spiel, which made Juliet flush in embarrassment. “S-Sorry. There I go again with my tangents. I must have bored you-”_

_“I know.”_

_“...Huh?”_

_“I know what you went through. I’ve been with you for a long time so I know when you were happy, when you were sad, when you didn’t believe in yourself - all of it.” Maya stirred in Juliet’s arms and hugged her tightly, burying her face into her chest. “I’m happy that you love yourself a little more. And...I’m happy I’m here to see it.”_

_“Maya...:” Juliet stroked the back of the little girl’s head. “Thank you. Everything is going to be OK. Not just me, but we’re all going to work together to make it happen.”_

_“Do you think I’ll be able to see Darkrai again, then?” Maya muttered hopefully._

_Juliet smiled gently. “You will. Because, when I see him again, you will too.”_

* * *

“So...the Chairman and CEO of both Macro Cosmos and the Pokemon League is behind everything. I hate to say it but, a part of me isn’t all that surprised.”

“I don’t blame you. We’ve seen thousands of cases involving corrupt politicians and businessmen that it’s hard not to suspect someone with so much wealth and power at their disposal. That being said, we can’t trap ourselves in that biased mindset. We have to be as objective as possible in order to present the facts as they are.” Anabel explained, looking out the window of her plane seat to see the region of Galar come into view from the distance. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the spiralling tower that stood in Galar’s capital - Wyndon. That was no doubt the headquarters for both Macro Cosmos and the Pokemon League.

There was a sense of excitement over being sent to a region they had never been to before, but this was anything but a vacation. Which is why their first stop upon landing would be the Pokemon Lab in Wedgehurst so they can get themselves up to speed on what’s been going on from those who were researching the phenomenon in question. Hopefully in the process, Anabel could meet up with Juliet personally since she was the one who gave her the most substantial lead to go off of. 

A few hours later after landing in Wyndon and immediately taking a train to Wedgehurst, Anabel and Looker finally arrived in front of the Pokemon Lab. But, before they could even enter, Anabel heard a gasp before turning around to see Juliet, holding a container of coffee and a box of donuts with shock written all over her face. 

“Anabel?! What are you doing here?!”

Anabel chuckled and removed her sunglasses. “You can recognize me even though we haven’t seen each other in a few years?”

“I’d never forget the face of the Battle Tower Brain! Wait, are you here because of-”

“We are, but let’s talk about it in the Pokemon Lab, shall we?”

Juliet nodded eagerly and escorted Anabel and Looker into the Pokemon Lab where Professor Magnolia and Sonia were waiting for them at the coffee table. Anabel took a quick glance around the lab, noting the various diagrams and research plastered all over the wall that no doubt had to do with Dynamax, the staircase leading to the small library above, and the quaint terrarium that gave the lab an air of tranquility amongst all the technical equipment. She stuck her hand out to the elderly Professor, who shook her hand firmly. “You must be Professor Magnolia, the leading researcher on Dynamax.”

“Indeed. You must be Anabel and Looker from the International Police Organization. I must say, I was rather surprised to hear that our region’s problems have even reached your ears as well.”

“Yes. The higher ups have been monitoring the situation and thought it has gotten serious enough to send us out to investigate and intervene. But, not only that, Juliet has also personally contacted me about it and what she saw so now it’s just a matter of putting the pieces together to get the evidence that we need.” Anabel explained. 

“Wow, so Anabel must be the person that the others told me you were contacting! How did you even manage to get connections to someone from the International Police?!” Sonia exclaimed in awe at Juliet. 

“Oh, I wasn’t always part of the IP. I used to be one of the Brains for the Battle Frontier in my youth. Juliet used to partake in battles there for fun and we became acquainted.” Anabel clarified with a nostalgic grin. 

“So, you can count on Anabel to put up one hell of a fight! She’s got two legendaries under her belt too-” Juliet added with a cheeky grin, making Anabel huff and put her fingers up to her lips to shush her. 

“Hopefully it won’t get to a point where I’d have to use them.”

“T-Two legendaries?! That’s amazing! I’d love to see them!” Sonia replied with excitement sparkling in her eyes. 

“It will have to wait, Miss Sonia. For now, let’s get down to business.” Anabel turned to Looker, who was oddly silent for most of the exchange. “Looker? Are you alright?”

“Y-Yes, Chief! Sorry for being so quiet. There’s quite a lot of research strewn about so I couldn’t help but take a look at some.” Looker picked up a sketch of what looked to be a meteorite. “I’ve seen photos of meteorites but never one like this.”

“Ah, that’s a sketch I made of a meteorite that was referenced in this one paper I’ve been analyzing. The one that was scrutinized, right Gran?” Sonia asked. 

“Correct. Though, who’s to say if that meteorite really existed or not.”

Anabel narrowed her eyes in interest at the meteorite and held her chin thoughtfully. Her mind flashed back to what she uncovered the day prior and tried to connect it with the meteorite. A research paper that had been heavily scrutinized…

“Miss Sonia, what’s this about a research paper that’s been scrutinized?” 

“You can just call me Sonia, and I have it right here.” Sonia pulled out the stapled research from under her arm and handed it to the woman before twirling her orange hair out of stress. “I haven’t been able to draw any conclusions from it, but I really feel like there’s something missing here.”

As Anabel read through the document carefully, everything began to fall into place, but she had to make sure that her growing hypothesis was correct. And the only way to do that was to go to the site of the operation herself and do some digging around.

Literally. 

“...I may have an idea of what’s been going on.” Anabel announced, making everyone in the room turn their heads to her with wide eyes. 

“Already, Chief?!” Looker gawked. 

Anabel held up her hand to calm down her right-hand man. “I believe I know the events that have occurred that have led to this point in regards to Chairman Rose’s operations. But, I need to go to Stow-On-Side to confirm my suspicions. Will you please escort me there, Sonia?”

“Yes, of course! I’ll bring my Dynamax reader just in case!” Sonia nodded before scrambling to put on her boots and gather everything that she needed. 

“What should I do, Chief?” Looker asked.

“Stay here with Juliet and Professor Magnolia. If all of us went, it could draw suspicion from Macro Cosmos employees. I imagine they must be out and about more often knowing that a few people know what their boss is up to.”

“Understood, Chief!”

* * *

Anabel regretted not packing a pair of goggles because the winds that were sweeping through Route 6 were picking up sand and blowing it everywhere. That was until Sonia tapped her on the shoulder and held up spare goggles for her, along with a scarf that she could wrap around her mouth and nose. She murmured a quiet thanks to the assistant before quickly putting them on and surveying the Diglett monuments that stood outside of Stow-on-Side.

Yes, something of this size could cleverly cover up a darker secret. 

“Sonia, can you try using your device around this monument.?”

“Eh? Alright…” Sonia nodded hesitantly before walking around the monuments with her eyes fixed to the small device in her hand. She honestly wasn’t expecting any sort of abnormal readings based on their previous attempt throughout Route 6, until her device briefly rang out before stopping. The assistant abruptly stopped in her tracks in surprise. That...That was such a quick reading but it was most definitely there. 

“As I suspected.” Anabel concluded confidently from behind her. 

“Did you figure it out?” Sonia whipped her head around.

“Yes.” Anabel cleared her throat before thoughtfully surveying the towering Diglett monuments. “I’ve researched Chairman Rose’s operations along with his finances in order to learn where his funds were going into.”

“And?”

“I noticed in one of his financial reports, there was a large sum of money that hadn’t been accounted for. Perhaps it went towards a private charity since he’s rather charitable, but my gut was telling me to keep digging and…” Anabel crossed her arms. “I stumbled across some witness testimonies and complaints about 10 years ago in regards to noise complaints from all the construction that was going on in the area. But, strangely enough, no one knew what the construction was for and no one was allowed anywhere near the area to get a glimpse. What if... this area was where Chairman Rose extracted the meteorite that housed Eternatus?”

Sonia’s jaw dropped and the pieces were starting to fit together in her head as well. “That would explain where all that money went into! For the excavation itself, but also to keep the media under wraps.”

“Exactly. This Dugtrio monument wasn’t always here so it was likely erected here to cover up any loose ends. I mean, you wouldn’t really find this suspicious, would you?”

“No way. Then, that means that research paper IS true, and that the Chairman did manage to revive Eternatus. But…” Sonia pondered deeply. “If he only revived it not too long ago, then, how did the Darkest Day happen 3000 years ago if Eternatus was the cause of it?”

Anabel shrugged and gave her a wry smile. “I believe that’s up to you to uncover, Assistant Sonia. I’m afraid my expertise only covers putting corrupt individuals behind bars.”

Sonia laughed dryly. “You’re right-”

“Hey! Sonia!!” Hop called over from a distance before running up to her with Gloria trailing close behind him. “Out researching? And who do you have with you?”

“Yup! It’s my life after all. And this is, uhhh…” Sonia trailed off, not knowing if it was OK for her to reveal who Anabel was to the young trainers. 

“I’m Anabel. An agent and officer of the International Police.” Anabel introduced with a polite bow of her head. Hop sputtered incomprehensibly upon hearing the words ‘International Police’ and straightened up his posture in a vain attempt to appear like an innocent civilian, which made Anabel laugh lightly. 

“Relax. I may be part of the police but there’s no need to be so on guard.”

Hop let out the air he had been holding in and relaxed his shoulders. “Oh, that’s a relief. Why are you here, Miss Anabel? If someone from the International Police is here then that means something serious is going on if the cops here in Galar need help.”

“You could say that. Are you two challengers of the Gym Challenge?”

“You bet! Well, Gloria and I have already beaten the Gym Challenge and got all of our badges! The Champion Cup is where the real battle starts!” Hop boasted proudly, pulling out his badge ring that was filled completely with all eight gym badges. 

Anabel grinned at the young trainer’s enthusiasm. “Congratulations! That’s quite a feat you’ve accomplished and you should be very proud of yourselves.”

“Aww shucks…Thanks, Miss Anabel!”

“You’re very welcome. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to ask you two a few questions for my investigation, but will you promise to keep what I’ve asked to yourself?”

“Of course! I don’t know how much help we’ll be but if we can help in any way, ask away!” Gloria encouraged with a nod of her head. 

“Thank you, you two. First off, have you two personally experienced anything strange that happened to you, specifically with Dynamax Pokemon?” Anabel asked as she pulled out a small notepad from the inside of her suit’s pocket.

“Not personally, but Hop’s older brother, Leon, definitely has. He’s been the one keeping the Dynamax Pokemon at bay and works closely with Chairman Rose.” Gloria explained.

“But, the weird thing is, is that my brother has gotten help from Sonia and a few other people during a few instances, but they were never mentioned on the news or anything. I can tell that it’s been bothering him...” Hop added sadly.

Anabel hummed to herself knowingly. For a massive conglomerate as Macro Cosmos, of course he’d have the influence to control over the media. In fact, looking at his affiliates, most of them would bend their knee to his every request if it meant their pockets could be filled and their businesses could keep thriving. It was a good thing that she and Looker were sent out to investigate considering how there likely wouldn’t be many people within the region who wouldn’t be loyal to him. Hell, the police departments in Galar were probably just as corrupt. But...For the region to be flourishing as long as it has, clearly it hadn’t always been this way and Chairman Rose had been in charge for a rather long time.

When did he start to change and why? If there was anyone who would notice those changes, it’d be someone who worked closely with him like Leon. But, it was hard to ignore the risk of doing so because he could very well reveal all the things that she’d ask to the man in question. Seeing as how willing Hop was in divulging information and promising to keep secrets, perhaps Leon was the same – but there was no guarantee of safety in assumptions.

“Hop, was it? Do you know if your brother is particularly close to Chairman Rose?”

“Hmm...I’m not too sure but, back when he first became Champion, Chairman Rose basically raised him to be the respected and loved Champion that he is. But...” Hop shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked mindlessly at the dirt, his voice growing distant. “Lee seems more stressed than usual, and he’s been a lot more honest about what he’s been going through. He’s always put on a brave face so I never thought anything was wrong until now. I don’t know if Chairman Rose has anything to deal with it but...I just wish there was more I could do to help him.”

“Hop...” Gloria muttered, looking at her best friend sympathetically.

Sonia turned to Anabel with pleading eyes. “Anabel, do you think it’s OK to tell them?”

Anabel closed her eyes and sighed. “I suppose it’s only wise since Leon is very likely involved in this. And, it’s only fair that his brother knows too. Do you know if Leon has been told?”

Sonia shook her head. “I don’t think so. Knowing him, if he did, he’d probably would have tried to do something by now. As Champion of the Galar region, he has always felt like he had to be the one to take care of matters into his own hands. I think that’s why Juliet has been keeping the truth from him.”

“Hmmm...That could be a problem. But, at the same time, I want to believe that he can trust in myself, Looker, and everyone else to help because this issue extends past what he understands. I think we should have a bit more faith in him.” Anabel smiled. “I used to be like that, until I realized how important it was to rely on others especially in this line of work. From how you and Hop talked about him, he doesn’t seem like the kind of person who’d tell on anyone. That being said, I’d like to meet him so I can be absolutely sure.”

“In that case, let me see if I can get a hold of him.” Sonia wandered off to call Leon while Anabel placed both of her hands on Hop and Gloria’s shoulders before looking at them seriously.

“Are you two available? There’s something important I need to tell you both back at the lab.”

* * *

“So, do you have any badass Pokemon yourself, Looker?”

“I’m afraid I pale in comparison to what the Chief has. But, I do have two.” Looker reached into his trench coat’s pockets and threw out two Pokeballs to reveal a Croakgunk and a Growlithe. Juliet knelt down to the two Pokemon in awe and proceeded to scratch behind Growlithe’s ear and pat Croakgunk’s head. The Growlithe growled contently at the affection while Croakgunk only looked mildly satisfied by the gesture, but he made no move to pull away from her hand.

“They’re very well-behaved! Ever thought about using a Fire Stone on Growlithe here?” The mere suggestion seemed to agitate the Growlithe, who pulled away from her hand to bare his fangs out at her.

Except he didn’t look all that menacing.

“Aha...He’s not too fond of the idea. It would also make it hard to do any infiltration if he grew into an Arcanine.” Looker laughed.

“That makes sense, but it’d be easier to strike fear into the hearts of the criminals you’re trying to apprehend.”

“Hey! Growlithe can be intimidating!”

“We’re back!” Sonia announced.

“Welcome back! Wait, why are Hop and Gloria with you?” Juliet asked with a tilt of her head.

Sonia smiled gently and placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’re going to tell them. And Leon, whenever he gets here.”

Juliet’s jaw dropped and her hand curled into a fist out of anxiety. She wasn’t expecting to have to tell him so soon only after promising the other day. That could only mean Anabel had already understood Chairman Rose’s intentions that it wasn’t necessary to keep it a secret from him any longer. She was glad that the agent was able to figure out in record time, as expected from someone with incredible intuition as Anabel, but she dreaded how Leon would take the news. “We are?”

“I know what you’re thinking and I can’t help but agree as well, but Anabel has a good idea of everything that’s happened behind the scenes and I think I have a better understanding of what that means for the Darkest Day. I just need to take a moment to look over my notes before he gets here. It’s better to tell him now than later. Let’s have more faith in him.”

Seeing the hesitation on Juliet’s face, made Anabel grip her other shoulder reassuringly. “You’ve always had a habit of over-thinking about all the possibilities and outcomes that you end up over-complicating the situation entirely. I’ve always noticed that in the way you battle. I could practically see the thoughts and ideas that are swirling around in your head that you end up not committing to one out of hesitation. Your compassion for other people’s feelings is admirable, but you need to open yourself up to other people’s compassion for you. Caring about other people’s feelings isn’t a one-sided affair – it’s a mutual one. You care about Leon’s well-being, but understand that he worries about yours as well especially if you’re keeping things from him to spare him the shock. He’s a capable adult, just like you, and you need to trust that he can take it.”

Juliet opened her mouth to reply but nothing came out. And here she thought she was good at reading people but Anabel was practically reading into the depths of her soul. It almost felt a little invasive but...it was necessary to bear the insecurities that made her who she was, for better and for worse. And, she was right. She didn’t really trust the people around her as she wanted to believe, and yet she’d absorb everything she could understand from others like a sponge, without offering anything in return. It was selfish, even if she didn’t intend it to be. She wanted to open her heart to others, but she was still so afraid. Afraid of disappointing people and then being cast aside when she wasn’t needed anymore.

How can she open her arms to embrace others when she couldn’t accept the arms that were offered to her?

It felt like she hadn’t changed at all.

“I...I’m sorry. You’re right.” She replied, her gaze dropping to the floor. 

“Now, now. There you go keeping so many thoughts to yourself again. I don’t mean to criticize you but, you need to learn to open up about the important things so everyone is on the same page. This isn’t just one person’s problem.” Anabel added before turning to Sonia and Looker. “Shall we go over what we’ve discovered so far?”

“Yes! I’ve compiled a lot of data over the past year so I should be able to put the pieces together with Gran’s research! Hey Gran! Mind giving me a hand too?”

“Of course, Sonia.”

“I guess we should wait until Leon gets here in the meantime. Why don’t we play Pokemon Crossing, Hop?” Gloria suggested, already pulling out her Nintendo Switch. Hop reached into his bag for his Switch when he looked up to ask if Juliet wanted to play with them, only to see that she walked out of the lab with her hands in her pockets. 

“Juliet! Where are you going?”

“...I’m just going to go for a walk. I’ll be right back.” She answered hollowly before letting the door close behind her. Hop took Gloria, and she looked back at him, and it seemed like they both had the same idea. Their villages could wait. 

* * *

Juliet knelt down to the shore of the lake and stared at her wavering reflection in the water. She always did this, sit by a body of water whether it was a lake, river, or the ocean, and just stare at her reflection as if to remind herself of who she was and where she was. But, sometimes she would see reflections of her past self, basking in the spotlight and raining confetti, or wallowing in despair. And when she blinked, the reflection would bring her back to her present self. The world around her has changed and she did too.

But…

She closed her eyes, her mind flashing back to the words spoken to her. Those moments where someone had extended their hand out to her.

_“We’ll always love and be proud of you, Jules.”_

_“Seriously. We got your back. We’ll deal with any assholes that try to give you trouble.”_

_“But now more than ever, I want to be there for you. If you need to let it out, I hope you’ll trust my shoulder to cry on.”_

_“That’s it, sweetie. You know that your uncle and I love you, right? If anything happens, we’ll be there for you.”_

_“Look, each of us has issues we’re dealin’ with, and it’d be nice if we had answers to all of our problems. And while we can try to fix each other up, you can’t fix everyone.”_

“Juliet?”

Juliet’s eyes shot open to see that Hop and Gloria were sitting on opposite sides of her along the lakeshore. “What are you two doing here?”

“We were worried about you so we couldn’t help but follow you. Are you OK? You seemed a little shaken up by what Anabel said to you.” Gloria asked worryingly. “I didn’t expect you to know someone from the International Police.”

“I knew Anabel back from when she was a Frontier Brain in Hoenn. I used to participate in tournaments so I got to fight her a couple of times. Always kicked my ass though.” Juliet laughed heartily. “Even when I wasn’t Champion anymore, I still wanted to battle. I wanted to preserve the strength I thought I had-”

“W-W-W-Wait,” Hop stuttered. “You were a Champion too?!”

“Surprise.” Juliet replied bluntly. 

“That’s-! So you-!” Hop stood up suddenly. “I-I wanna have a battle with you!”

“Hop! Now’s not the time for that!” Gloria laughed, coaxing her best friend to sit back down, which he did with a sheepish grin. 

“S-Sorry. I forgot why we were here for a sec. But, that’s amazing, Juliet! To think that you’re probably on the same level as my brother-”

“Oh, I highly doubt that. I’m kind of past my prime. But, you know…” Juliet looked out onto the lake. “For me, being a Champion wasn’t easy. Everyone had all of these expectations of me, and there were plenty of people who thought I didn’t deserve to win.”

“What?! Based on what?!”

“Well, I have a few guesses, but what really matters was how it affected my confidence. I didn’t have someone to look out for me like how Leon has Chairman Rose. That’s not really how it works in Hoenn. Sure, Wallace was proud of me and did what he could to help me out, but ultimately, he was often busy with his Pokemon Contests and I was a kid who wasn’t properly taught how to deal with being under the spotlight from the start.. No one is really taught that. Which is why if either of you manage to beat Leon in the finals, prepare yourself for more than just glory and fame.” Juliet spoke honestly. 

“Juliet...You...You must have been through a lot…” Gloria noted sadly. “But, thank you for saying that. I didn’t start to notice how the title of Champion was weighing down even someone like Leon until recently, so hearing that makes me feel...more aware of what comes after. Not only that…” The young trainer stuck her hand into the lake, feeling the cool water against her skin. “I can tell you and the other adults are doing all you can to make sure me, Hop, and all the other gym challengers can compete in peace, but at the same time...if there’s anything that we can do to help, we want to help. I know we’re only 15 and we don’t really know much about Pokemon research and politics, but we’re strong too and you guys can rely on us!”

“Gloria…”

“Gloria’s right. As much as I want to concentrate on training for the Champion Cup, if there’s something serious happening that could affect my brother and everyone else, then it’s our problem too.” Hop added with determination. 

Someone to rely on…

Sharing the burden…

And mutually caring about each other…

Gloria and Hop were both so earnest and decisive. They knew what they wanted, and even through moments of doubt, they kept charging forward without a second thought. They were exactly what Juliet needed to be too. Or rather, she needed to tap into that unshakeable resolve that she used to have. 

A resolve that she didn’t have to realize on her own.

Juliet grinned. “Well, we should be heading back then. We’ll tell you everything. Everything from what Chairman Rose has been doing, to what our plan of action is.”

“Mind if I follow?”

They turned around to see Leon sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. “I took a wrong turn.”

“Of course you did, Lee.” Hop replied sarcastically while rolling his eyes. “Let’s go then!”

* * *

“Awww, since when did Charizard and Tiki get so close?” Sonia cooed, watching the two Pokemon rest their heads against each other in a quiet corner of the lab. 

“Charizard took a hit for Tiki during that time in Hammerlocke about a week ago. She was really worried about him, but I think it was his bravery and chivalry that stole her heart.” Juliet said with a light blush. The Professor Assistant couldn’t hold back a delighted squeal and nudged the Raid leader with her elbow suggestively. 

“Does that make them mates, then? Ohhh, if Tiki lays an egg, do you think it’ll be a Trapinch or a Charmander?!”

“I’d have to ask Mary. She’s the breeding expert.”

“Ahem.” Leon coughed, his blush spreading to his ears. “Didn’t you call me here for something important, Sonia?”

“Oh, come on. Don’t pretend that you aren’t at least curious-” Sonia retorted with a pout.

“Alright, I think I have everything ready.” Anabel announced.

“In that case,” Juliet went over to her laptop and began typing away before revealing a video call with all of the Gym leaders, her team, and her uncle. 

“Oh? What’s all this, Juliet?”

“When I first found out about what Chairman Rose was up to, I thought it was important to let the Gym Leaders know in the event that the Darkest Day happens, they’ll be in charge of evacuating everyone in their respective towns.” Juliet looked at each of the Gym Leaders on the screen. “Thank you for trusting me and cooperating with us. I can only imagine how shocked you all were to know what your boss has been up to.”

“It was, but for me anyway, I’m not particularly loyal to him so it wasn’t a hard decision to be a part of this plan.” Nessa replied. 

“I agree with Nessa, I’m grateful for the sponsors that I have because it means I can put food on the table for my folks, but if their lives are in danger because of him, I can’t work for someone like that.” Milo added seriously. 

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve seen you so serious before, Milo…” Gordie gawked. 

“But, you have to agree with him, you know. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you or the rest of our family.” Melony concurred. 

“...How are you feeling, Bede? You were pretty close with him weren’t you? I’m a little surprised you agreed to be here.” Juliet said. 

Bede grumbled something under his breath and looked to the side. “...He may have been my foster father for a time, I can’t forgive him for casting me aside after all that I’ve done for him.”

“Does that mean you’re doing this out of revenge?” Hop interjected. 

“...Hmph. Revenge is a bit of a strong word but, something like that. Why are you here, Hop?”

“If my brother is involved in this, then I am too. Whether you like it or not.”

Leon sighed. “Just don’t tell mum, OK? She’ll die from stress alone if she finds out what we’re up to.”

“Relax, Lee! You can count on me too!”

“Juliet, I trust that this call is confidential?” Anabel whispered to her.

Juliet nodded. “Don’t worry, Vanquil, one of my friends and teammates, and my uncle have put together a VPN just for this call so no one can listen in outside who’s here. That’s why my uncle is here too since he’s monitoring the call.”

Dave waved to his webcam. “Don’t mind me. Just here to make sure no Rattatas try to snoop in!”

“...You’ve really thought this through, haven’t you? I may have underestimated you a little. I take back part of what I said earlier about your over-thinking things.” Anabel expressed with a small smile. 

Juliet shook her head. “No, I had to hear that. Or else I would have been against everyone listening in. Besides, I don’t have anything more planned than what you see here.”

“Regardless, it was a good move on your part.” Anabel agreed. “As much as I’d like to continue these pleasantries, I’m afraid we’re on the clock so let’s get down to business. First off, my name is Anabel and I’m an agent and officer of the Pokemon International Police Department. This is my assistant, Looker, who is also a member and a master of going undercover.”

“The Pokemon International Police, huh? You really pulled out all the stops, huh, Leader?” Vanquil commented cheekily. 

“We were approached by the higher ups so rest assured that the situation is being monitored by our headquarters as well.”

“W-Whoa...Then that means…” Allister trailed off nervously. 

“Yes, the situation is serious, but allow me to paint you all a clear picture so we’re all on the same page.” Anabel started before stepping out of frame to reveal a white board with a timeline drawn on it with various photos and notes pasted all over. “Starting from the very beginning, Chairman Rose has invested a large sum of money into an excavation project in Stow-on-Side. No one knew what was uncovered because he bribed several media outlets to keep any word about the project under wraps to steer away prying eyes. But, based on witness reports by the select few individuals who managed to speak out about it during that time, it could hardly go unnoticed. Which is why, in order to cover his trail and tie up any loose ends, he erected the Dugtrio monument over the site to distract anyone from assuming anything had happened at all.”

“That sneaky son-of a b-” Raihan swore under his breath.

“Raihan, please be aware that Allister is listening in as well.” Kabu sighed.

“That rotten Exeggcute…Man, it doesn’t sound as threatening…”

“Moving on, it’s safe to assume that he extracted the meteorite containing Eternatus from this excavation and he likely spent the next 10 years trying to revive it.” Anabel passed the laser pointer to Sonia.

“So, the explosions that have been gradually occurring over the past few months is likely linked to Eternatus’ power. In fact, I have no doubt in my mind that Dynamax is directly sourced from Eternatus. And it’s because of Eternatus that the Darkest Day happened 3000 years ago.” Sonia explained. 

“But, didn’t Anabel say that Eternatus was contained in a meteorite? How come the Darkest Day hasn’t happened again already?” Bea asked. 

“This is only a theory, but the only explanation that I can think of is that Eternatus was sealed away in its original form as a meteorite before being revived again by Chairman Rose. I’ve spent weeks studying the tapestries in the Vault, the recently uncovered statues of the two Kings, and the fifth tapestry in Bob’s Your Uncle, and I believe that the two Pokemon depicted with the sword and shield are responsible for sealing away Eternatus during the Darkest Day!”

Everyone’s jaws dropped and Hop was the first to recover, “Are you serious, Sonia?!”

“Like I said, it’s a working theory but I believe I have the grounds to back it up. The first four tapestries depict the crowning of the two rulers for the newly established kingdom of Galar, with the sword and shield being the ones to drive off the disaster. But in the fifth tapestry, it looks like they’re laying the sword and shield to rest in front of some sort of tombstone or altar. The sword and shield Pokemon must have used up all of their energy to seal Eternatus away and they must have sealed themselves away in order to recover.”

“That means....they’re still alive somewhere, right?” Gloria asked. 

“I hope so, because if my theory is correct, then they’re our only hope of stopping the Darkest Day if it happens again.” Sonia frowned. “But, I don’t recognize the place that was depicted in the tapestry so I can’t begin to guess where it could be…”

“There’s...also something you’re forgetting that probably makes the situation more complicated…” Juliet chimed in. “Remember Darkrai?”

“Darkrai…? Oh, right! I almost forgot!”

“O-Oh! I remember Darkrai! I saw him in Juliet’s head!” Allister exclaimed before stammering apologetically for his sudden outburst. 

“As in the nightmare Pokemon? What does he have to do with this?” Piers asked. 

“You remember how I talked to you about not being able to help someone? I was talking about Darkrai.” Juliet reminded him.

“S-Seriously?”

“I know, it’s hard to believe and I don’t know how or when it happened but, Darkrai was attached to me and he’d purposely show me nightmares as a way to get to know me. It sounds a little morbid but he did it because he was trying to find closure for his own pain from what I went through. If he could relate to someone, then he wouldn’t feel alone and burdened with the powers that he has. He doesn’t want to hurt anyone, but his powers say otherwise…” Juliet hugged herself and shuddered at the thought. “And now, he got captured by Chairman Rose and merged with Eternatus.”

“...Wait. How would you know that, J?” Leon asked suspiciously. 

She bit her lip and clutched herself tighter, bracing herself with how he would react to her breaking his promise to not do anything reckless. “I snuck into the Power Plant.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent a lot of time coming up with the who, what, where, when, and whys of what Chairman Rose has been up to and this is what I came up with! I love showing just how powerful people can be as long as they have money because it's not just black and white of them being respected people because they donate to a lot of charities and they're always thinking about the good of the people. Money can make people greedy and irrational towards their goals and are often doing a lot of seedy shit behind the scenes. 
> 
> Don't get things twisted though - Rose's intentions are in the right place, but knowing how much power and money he has is causing him to make decisions that are irrational and delusional because those things are what show progress in his eyes. As a businessman, progress and results mean everything. 
> 
> Anyway, that's enough Rose rambling for now. As always, thanks for reading this chapter and feel free to leave a kudos and or a comment if you'd like!


	23. Protect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Juliet learns that it's not enough to protect others if she doesn't allow herself to be protected.

**Chapter 17 - Protect**

* * *

“You what?! Leon shouted, his face twisting one into absolute horror at her recklessness. He grabbed her wrist and squeezed it tight enough to make her wince in pain. “Why would you go and do that?! You told me you didn’t know anything more!”

“Leon, stop! It’s not just her fault! I...I was in on it. I was the one who convinced her to do it.” Raihan protested.

Leon couldn’t believe his ears and whipped his head at the TV screen. “You too, Raihan?! How could you do that behind my back?!”

“Look, we wouldn’t even be here right now if we didn't do anything! We would have gone about our days, blissfully ignorant to Chairman Rose’s bullshit!” Raihan spat back. 

“...” Leon seethed through his teeth and turned back to Juliet. “Does Chairman Rose know what you did?”

Juliet averted his gaze, which told him everything without her needing to answer at all. Leon wasn’t just mad that Juliet and Raihan risked their lives to find out the truth, but for as long as they’ve known about the truth, they’ve been a target of Rose so their lives had constantly been in danger. And he hadn’t been there to  _ protect _ them when it happened and after. 

“Why...Why didn’t you tell me sooner? Why did you lie to me?! Do you think it makes me happy knowing that Rose could have hurt you or worse? If something did happen to you, how do you think it would make me feel knowing that I wasn’t there to protect you? Do you...Do you think I’m that weak?” Leon asked, his voice cracking and choking back tears. 

“Of course I don’t! But, that’s why I don’t want Rose to hurt you either! If he knew you found out, and you had gone to confront him, who knows what he could do to you-”

“Chairman Rose can’t hurt me!”

“You’re not invincible, Leon! We’re up against the Pokemon that was responsible for the Darkest Day for Arceus sake!”

“Enough!” Anabel’s shout rang through the lab, and silenced everyone including those in the call. “Look, there were mistakes made on all fronts but what’s done is done. We’re in the middle of preventing a crisis and the last thing we need is to be at each other’s throats because of misunderstandings. We all need to be on the same page now more than ever so, no more keeping information from each other.” 

“...” Leon reluctantly let go of Juliet’s wrist but his pained expression never went away.    
“I thought you trusted me…”

Juliet bit back her tears. “I’m sorry…”

Anabel sighed and shook her head. There was no way to continue the meeting with how heavy the tension was in the air. There was no room for rational thought when someone was too emotionally high-strung. Even though there was still more to discuss, the information she presented about Chairman Rose was a lot to take in so perhaps it would do everyone good to sleep on it and continue another day. 

“I think we should call it a day for now. I’m sure all of us are on edge right now and could use some time to process everything. Thank you for coming, everyone, and I trust that Juliet will arrange another call at everyone’s earliest convenience so we can continue.”

“Umm…” Milo seemed to be the only one who broke through the heavy atmosphere and bowed politely in front of his webcam. “Thank you for letting us know what’s been going on, Miss Anabel.” He was the only one who offered parting words before everyone disconnected one by one after the farmer.

Except for Dave.

“Juliet. I would like to speak with you.”

No  _ ‘kiddo’ _ . She was in for it now. 

“...I know, uncle.” Juliet replied quietly before disconnecting her laptop from the TV and taking it upstairs to the small library by the terrarium. She spared no glance at Leon, and he didn’t either. With a heavy heart, the Champion pried his Charizard away from Tiki before returning him into his Pokeball. Despite snuggling up to his Charizard while the meeting was going on, Tiki knew something happened between him and her trainer, and she couldn’t help but look at him with sorrowful eyes - as if to silently apologize on her trainer’s behalf. 

Leon heaved a sigh and cradled her head. “Thank you for looking after Charizard, Tiki.”

The Flygon whimpered and watched him leave without saying another word. 

“I-I guess we should get going too. Gloria and I have to head out to Wyndon tomorrow for the opening of the Champion Cup.” Hop nudged Gloria with his elbow to get her to follow after him. 

“R-Right. Thank you for telling us everything! Please let us know if we can help with anything else!” Gloria stammered out before leaving after Hop. 

“...I suppose we should take our leave for now as well. We haven’t checked into our hotel room in Motostoke yet. Shall we get going, Looker?” Anabel asked.

“Y-Yes, Chief.” Looker bowed his head to both Sonia and Professor Magnolia. “Thank you for letting us conduct the meeting in your lab. We shall keep in touch for any new developments.”

“Of course. Please be careful on your way!” Sonia responded as they walked out. But before exiting, Anabel looked at Sonia expectantly. 

“Remind Juliet not to beat herself up too much. It wasn’t right for her to keep things from him specifically. But, I’m sure she had her reasons for doing so and even though the way Leon reacted wasn’t how she wanted him too, it was better to tell him now than later. They’ll both understand and come around.”

“Alright. I’ll try to check in on Leon as well.”

“Good. We’ll come by again tomorrow to discuss our plan of action.” 

“Thank you, Anabel.” Once the door had closed, the lab was mostly empty, save for Juliet, Sonia, and Professor Magnolia. Professor Magnolia quietly mentioned to her grand-daughter that she had a few things to check up on in the basement, leaving Sonia on the upper floor with Juliet. Sonia wandered to the bottom of the staircase and tried to peek to see if she was still on a call with her uncle, but noticed that her laptop was placed next to her. 

“Juliet? You alive up there?”

“...Mostly.” Juliet mumbed.

“I suppose that’s better than nothing.” Sonia climbed up the staircase before sitting across from Juliet and leaning back against the bookshelf. Juliet had her face buried into her knees. 

“...It’s good that you told him. I wasn’t expecting him to react in the way that he did but, I get where it came from. The Champion Cup starts tomorrow which means everyone’s eyes will be on him more than ever and he wants to meet everyone’s expectations of being this heroic trainer who can conquer anything that gets in his way.” Sonia said gently. “But, I think because of that, he probably thinks that if he can’t protect the people who are important to him, who  _ can _ he protect?”

Juliet lifted her head up from her knees, eyes all red and puffy from crying. “I-I get what you’re saying but, at the same time, I can take care of myself. I don’t need a bodyguard or some knight in shining armor to protect me.”

Sonia smiled sadly. “But, isn’t that what you’ve been doing for Leon? You kept it from him because you wanted to protect him from Chairman Rose, even knowing the constant risk you’re in. He wants to protect you as much as you want to protect him so, why aren’t you letting him?”

“I don’t know, I just…” Juliet balled up her fists in her lap. “I want to be able to stand on my own two feet. Growing up, I just wanted to be someone that people can rely on, but more often than not, I end up disappointing people and I end up being looked after because I can’t get my act together. I just want to do something  _ right _ for once.”

“Juliet…”

“I know how messed up my standards are but, it never feels like I’m doing  _ enough _ . My parents made me believe that the only times where I deserved praise, is if I’ve done something grand or accomplishing. Anything else is just lip service. I’m trying hard to not believe that anymore, but it’s hard shaking off the things you’ve learned when you were a kid because you trusted that that was how things were supposed to be.” She suddenly felt something slither behind her and noticed that Tiki had finally decided to join them and curl herself around her dear trainer. Yamper also rose from his bed and scampered up the stairs to lie on Sonia’s lap. 

“So...That’s why you don’t take compliments easily and why you’re willing to put yourself through reckless situations.” Sonia lamented. She reached out and placed her hand on top of Juliet’s hand that was propped up on her knee. “I kind of wish I was like you.”

“W-What do you mean? I don’t think you’d want to be someone who’s so self-deprecating…” Juliet grumbled. 

“Geez, that’s not what I meant! I meant that I admire how hard you work in trying to prove yourself. Me? I tend to give up too easily. Whenever I’m stumped during my research, I get frustrated too quickly that I end up not being able to think about a way around it. But, like Anabel said earlier, you’re always thinking and looking at situations from all possible angles.”

“You’re still so hardworking, Sonia. I don’t really have the patience to study and do research like you do. You were able to draw your own conclusions from how hard you worked. Even if you give up easily, in the end, you still persevered. Don’t sell yourself short.”

Sonia raised an eyebrow. “Look who’s talking. I know you’re trying to be the leader of all of this, but you can’t bite more than you can chew.”

Juliet laughed dryly. “You sound like my uncle right now.”

“Sorry. You’ve probably already been lectured enough for today as it is, but believe me when I say that we’re worried about you. I mean, you saw with your own eyes of what Rose is planning and I can only imagine how scared you were. I would be. So, trust us. You’re not alone. You were never alone.” Sonia pulled her up to her feet and grinned widely. “Come on. It’s starting to get dark so let’s get out of this stuffy lab.”

“Uh... and go where?”

“My house, duh. I think you could use a bit of a spa night to relax.”

Juliet’s face twisted into a grimace. “Spa night? I have to get up early tomorrow to make it to the opening-”

“And you will! It’ll be fun! I don’t remember the last time I’ve invited someone over for a sleepover...”

“Wait, I’m sleeping over too?!”

* * *

“I look stupid.”

“No one looks not stupid while wearing a facial mask.”

“Do these cucumbers even do anything?” Juliet asked lamely, plucking a slice of cucumber off of her eyelids to peek at Sonia, who was lying down on her bed undisturbed. Juliet, on the other hand, was lying down in the sleeping bag that Sonia used to use for when she took on the Gym Challenge with Leon all those years ago. It was a little surprising that she didn’t get rid of it. Sentimental value maybe?

“They’re good for fighting against acne. I’m kind of surprised you don’t really have any to begin with when you seem pretty stressed on the inside.”

“I have my ways of dealing with it.”

“Like playing video games?”

“That and baking.”

Sonia shot up from her bed and removed the cucumber slices from her eyes. “You bake? That’s so cute!”

“Is it?” She didn’t think it was anything remarkable. Then again, that was par for the course in her line of thinking. Baking had a meditative quality to it of doing the same tasks and motions over and over until you get something that you can eat afterwards. It was a win-win really. 

“Well, I just never imagined you covered in flour and decorating cakes. You always seemed to try to do things that were, I don’t know, cool?”

Juliet resisted the urge to scratch her face at that. “Nah, I don’t think I’m cool. I just...like making sweets for myself and other people. Nothing makes me happier than seeing other people happy from doing those little things for them.”

“I don’t think they’re little at all. Now that I think about it, Bea told me about the time that you gave her some of your brownies because you wanted to cheer her up.” Sonia mentioned. 

“She did?” That was...a bit surprising. 

“Yup! The fact that Bea openly talked about it, that gesture made a greater lasting impression on her than you think it did. Even the smallest gestures can mean the world to someone. Life isn’t just about making grand accomplishments because it’s the small things you do for people that can make all the difference.”

_ “I don’t need anything special.” _

“J-Juliet?! Are you crying? I’m sorry I didn’t mean to-”

Huh? Oh. 

Juliet thought it was just the moisture from the facial mask, but when she brought her hand up to her eyes, the wetness felt warm. Why was she crying? She thought her tear ducts had dried up from earlier but here she was. With gentle tears streaming down her facial mask, which she opted to peel off. 

_ Why? _

“I...I don’t know why I’m crying again. It’s not because of what you said...but...it reminded me of something someone once said to me…” But just like TV static, she couldn’t piece together the face of the person who said those words to her. However, in her heart, she knew those words were important to her. For a moment, they made her feel like she was enough. Her actions were enough. 

But,  _ who _ said those things to her?

“I see...We should probably call it a night then. You must be exhausted.” Sonia peeled off her own facial mask and handed Juliet a towel to dry off her face. Even when Sonia turned off the lights and the room was basked in a comforting darkness, Juliet couldn’t bring herself to drift off. Her mind was still as active as ever.

“Woof!” Yamper jumped off of Sonia’s bed and crawled over to Juliet’s side on the floor. She turned her head to the electric pup and was then assaulted by his affectional licks. She couldn’t contain her giggles, and they eventually escalated into full, carefree laughter which unfortunately woke up the assistant. 

“Yamper!”

“It’s OK, Sonia. I think...I think he could sense that I couldn’t sleep so he wanted to keep me company.” Juliet scratched Yamper’s ears, making him pant and growl with content. “Thanks, boy. You’re a good dog. I’ll be OK now so, give your trainer some love too-”

“Hee hee, I don’t mind sharing for the night. You need the cuddles more than me right now.”

“But, you definitely deserve some love today too. You’ve worked hard today. I can cuddle with Pistachio.” The moment Juliet tossed out her Pistachio’s Pokeball, he immediately crawled into the sleeping bag and snuggled up to her chest. She smiled warmly at her beloved baby Pokemon and pulled him a little closer. 

“See, Juliet?” Sonia chimed softly. 

“Hm? See what?”

“You give so much love and care towards your Pokemon and all of us that we instinctively want to do the same for you. So, relax, and accept our love.”

Juliet looked down at her Trapinch, who looked up at her with sleepy eyes, as if to tell her that he wouldn’t be able to sleep until she could. Mutual trust and mutual love...She didn’t want to keep wallowing herself in self-deprecation. She needed to make it clear that she was going to change, and that the encouragement everyone had given her wouldn’t go to waste. She kept reminding herself of such things, but they always stayed as nothing more than just thoughts. But, not anymore. She was going to  _ swear _ to herself that she will turn that conviction into something  _ real _ . It was going to be hard, but sometimes you have to crawl before you can walk, and then walk before you can run. She turned around in the sleeping bag so she was facing Sonia’s bed and nodded suringly.

“I will. It may not seem like it right away but-”

Sonia smiled. “I know. Take it at your own pace, Juliet. I believe that you won’t give up on making that happen.”

Yamper offered one last lick to Juliet’s face before climbing back up Sonia’s bed and making himself comfortable at the feet of her bed. Juliet gently kissed Pistachio’s head, encouraging him to get some sleep and that she'll be there right after him. As his eyes fluttered closed, she looked up at Sonia with newfound conviction.

“Thank you for taking care of me, Sonia.”

* * *

“Oh? You’re leaving already? Shouldn’t you have breakfast first?” Professor Magnolia offered, holding a cup of tea that was meant for Juliet.

“Today’s the big day so we’re expected to be there to help with the final preparations and rehearsals.” Juliet replied, slipping on her shoes and double checking to make sure she didn’t forget anything. “I didn’t want to wake up Sonia, so please thank her for letting me stay and talking with me.”

“Of course, dear. Please take care of yourself, Juliet. And remember, we will find a way to stop Rose’s plan.” Professor Magnolia reminded sternly. 

Juliet grinned. “I know. I’m counting on everyone. For real, this time. No more secrets.”

“Good. At least take some scones for your commute.” Professor Magnolia wrapped a few scones in a handkerchief and offered it to Juliet. She accepted it graciously and quietly left the residence on top of her Flygon. 

It was a beautiful morning - not too hot, not too cold; it was one of those days where the sun was warm and the breeze was cool. The perfect kind of day for day 1 of the Champion Cup. Carefully balancing herself on Tiki’s back and opening the handkerchief of scones with one hand, Juliet munched through the delicate pastries with a clear head for once. There were no voices that would beat up her self-esteem - just the sound of the wind blowing through her hair and the Eldegoss that would float past her. 

“Hmm...I should have brought water to wash down these scones…”

“Jules! Catch!”

Juliet turned her head and clumsily caught the bottle of water that was thrown in her direction. A second too late and it would have smacked her right in the face. Mary, Tessu, and Vanquil caught up to her on their respective mounts, with Tessu giving her an OK sign for the quick reflex. “Thanks, Tessu!”

“No problem! Skipped breakfast again?”

“Sort of. I didn’t want to be late or cause Professor Magnolia any trouble.”

“Ahh, so that’s where you were! We stopped by your flat yesterday to check up on your since...you know…” Mary trailed off. 

“I know. I made mistakes and I ended up hurting the person that I was trying to protect. I was too presumptuous and in over my own head that it was for the best. It was wrong of me to underestimate Leon’s feelings.” Juliet admitted, looking ahead to watch the Rose Tower slowly come closer into view. “I spent enough time crying about it yesterday to Sonia, but now it’s time to look forward and make things right for real. Speaking of which, I never got to properly apologize to you guys for lashing out that one time. There was a lot of anxiety that ended up boiling over, but that still doesn’t excuse what I did. I’m sorry for that, Mary, Tessu, Vanquil.”

The three aforementioned trainers all looked to each other with bewildered expressions before bursting out laughing, startling both Juliet and Tiki.

“W-What’s so funny? Here I am, pouring my heart out-”

“S-Sorry, it’s just...we honestly kind of forgot about you being mad at us that one time after all that’s happened. Seemed kind of low on the list of priorities from all that’s happened afterwards.” Vanquil chuckled. 

“...Even so, I had to say it so you guys knew.”

“We knew even before you said it, but don’t worry - we do appreciate hearing it out loud.” Tessu agreed. 

“What’s that saying again? Water under the bridge?” Mary giggled. “We’re sorry too. We should have let you understand your own feelings on your own terms instead of trying to pry it out of you.”

Juliet closed her eyes and smiled. “...Thanks. I know you guys didn’t mean any real harm by it.”

“...So, you do love him?” Tessu asked cheekily. Vanquil and Mary squawked at that and immediately pinched her cheeks as punishment. 

“Tessu!!”

“...I do.”

“...Huh?” Did...Did they hear that right? They turned their head to Juliet, who kept looking forward, but now with her cheeks dusted pink. 

“You heard me. I love Leon.” Juliet admitted so matter-of-factly. 

“Y-You’re just going to admit it nonchalantly?!” Tessu gawked.

Juliet rolled her eyes and turned to them with a bored look on her face. “Were you expecting me to blush like a high school girl who is about to profess her love to her senpai?”

“...Kind of yeah.”

She scoffed. “Gross.”

“W-Well, I think what matters is that you’ve come to terms with it! I’m happy for you, Jules!” Mary beamed. 

“Thanks, but realizing it is the easy part and I think I’m the last person he wants to see right now. These feelings can wait. There’s actually something important that I have to tell you guys. Or rather, a strong hunch that I have since I don’t want to keep anything to myself in regards to our plan of action.”

“And that is?” Vanquil beckoned. 

“...I think Chairman Rose is going to unleash the Darkest Day on the day of finals.” Juliet explained, her voice turning grim. 

“That soon?! That’s like, two days from now! How do you know?”

“I didn’t get to mention it yesterday but something had been bothering me in terms of what I saw and heard back at the Power Plant. It felt like I was missing a key piece of information that was right there in front of me and it has to do with Darkrai’s powers. From what I remember, Darkrai implied that the full extent of his powers aren’t at their full potential unless there’s a new moon. And I vividly remember one of the scientists in the Power Plant saying that Eternatus and Darkrai can bring about a Darkest Day that Galar can never wake up from.”

“So, that means-!” Mary gasped.

Juliet nodded. “Yeah. And the finals just so happen to fall on the night of a new moon. Rose is meticulous about everything he does, so you have to assume that there’s purpose behind every action. He wants to leave a lasting impact and impression, so what better way to get his point across than to unleash his plans during the most anticipated event in all of Galar?”

“Holy shit…” Vanquil muttered under his breath, shocked by how little time they had left to put their preventative measures into motion. 

“I plan on telling Anabel, Looker, and Sonia about it so they can spread the word to the others. If we can manage, we should organize an emergency meeting tonight so everyone’s clear on what our plans are so far.”

“And what about Leon? You were pretty adamant that he still has a role in Rose’s plan?” Mary asked worryingly.

Juliet bit her lip. Yeah, that was a problem. She made a fervent promise to herself to never doubt his feelings ever again, but at the same time, she always prioritized reading the room. She was able to bounce back from what happened for the most part, but his reaction was notably stronger than hers so who knows if he was even ready to hear their next course of action from just one night of letting heated emotions settle. She wasn’t sure if she would be able to look him in the eye right now, but even if he couldn’t bring himself to listen right away, as long as it was out there, it would at least give him something to mull over. 

“...He might still be upset, but someone has to keep him up to speed. Not telling him is just an admission that we don’t trust him. We all play a role in expressing our trust towards each other so even if there’s one person who doesn’t understand or listens, one of us will be able to get through to them.” Juliet reached into her bag and pulled out the special phone that her uncle gave her, while promptly ignoring the others’ surprise by how huge it was. Vanquil was especially put off. 

“What the hell is that? A brick?”

“It’s one of my uncle’s inventions. It can make calls just about anywhere, even in places that would normally have no signal. Best part? Nothing can listen in so I’m going to call Anabel now so she, Looker, and Sonia have something to work with behind the scenes.”

* * *

“So...Rose is planning on making his grand entrance during the Champion Cup finals, is he?” Looker pondered. “That doesn’t give us a lot of time to investigate where we think Zacien and Zamazenta are hiding.”

“Not necessarily. As Legendary Pokemon, who were heroes and protectors of Galar, there’s meaning behind where they could be sleeping.” Sonia interjected. 

“Perhaps a shrine, or even a temple, maybe?” 

“Something like that, but there isn’t anything like that as far as I know. But, I have a strong feeling that they would be somewhere with as little human contact as possible, like the Wild Area for example.”

“Shall we start our search in the Wild Area, then?” Anabel suggested. 

Sonia sighed and pulled out some of her research. “I suppose that’d be the best place to look, but it’s such a big place that we won’t cover enough ground with just the three of us.” 

The Wild Area was expansive and untouched for the most part, serving as a conservation for Pokemon to live freely. It had been explored by trainers of multiple generations, so the map for it underwent constant updates for points of interest and any undiscovered Power Spots. No one was really allowed to explore beyond the rocky walls that towered over parts of the Wild Area due to safety concerns, but exploring those areas didn’t feel right either. Sonia looked long and hard at her sketch of the tombstone and the area surrounding it that was depicted in the fifth tapestry of Galar’s history.

A crumbling stone arch way…

Surrounded by a thick forest….

That was the biggest clue, but where could it be?

“Whoa! You’re wearing a white lab coat, Sonia! Does that mean-” Hop bounded over to them excitedly on the moving train. Sonia looked up at the young trainer and flushed with pride. 

“Yup! Gran endorsed me as a new Pokemon Professor this morning! How do I look? I look pretty professional, huh?”

“You look great! We’re so happy for you!” Gloria cheered, until noticing the sketch that Sonia had been intently staring at earlier. Something rang a distant bell, and the longer she stared at it, the louder it rang. She didn’t recognize the tombstone or the archway, but it made her feel...mystified. Intrigued. 

Like she was walking through a thick veil of fog to discover something…

“T-That’s it!” Gloria blurted out, making everyone jolt in surprise from the outburst and turning the heads of other passengers on the train. She muttered a quiet apology before lowering her voice into a whisper.

“That place...it looks like Slumbering Weald.”

Sonia’s eyes widened. “You think so?!”

“Yeah...I don’t know why but, there’s something mysterious about that sketch and it’s the same feeling I got when Hop and I accidentally went into Slumbering Weald to rescue a Wooloo.”

“Now that I think about it, didn’t you say you saw something and tried to have a battle with it?!” Hop whispered harshly. “I think I saw something too but I was too scared to do anything.”

“I did. It was so foggy so I couldn’t make out what it looked like but...its silhouette definitely belonged to a canine and it looked like it had braids coming down from its ears…” Gloria added.

Sonia rapidly flipped through her research and pulled out the photos she took of the statues of Zacien and Zamazenta that were uncovered from the mural in Stow-on-Side. She raised an eyebrow. It didn’t look like either of them had the braids that Gloria mentioned and she couldn’t recall there being any Pokemon that had that specific characteristic. Maybe Zacien and Zamenzenta took on a different form to ward off intruders? There was only one way to find out-

Sonia slammed her folder shut and abruptly stood up. “We’re getting off at the next stop and taking the train back to Wedgehurst.” She then pointed at Hop and Gloria. “And you two are coming with us.”

“We are?! But, we’re on our way to Wyndon-” Hop stammered. 

“The Opening Ceremony for the Champion Cup doesn’t start until 5 pm! You’ll have plenty of time to get there!”

“But, why us?” Gloria wondered with the tilt of her head. 

“I’ll explain when we get there but, please trust me on this!” Sonia pleaded while putting her hands together. Hop and Gloria looked to each other with hesitation, silently asking the other what they should do. Well....they still had a lot of time left before they had to be in Wyndon so, a quick detour couldn’t hurt and they would be lying if they said that they weren’t incredibly curious about exploring Slumbering Weald to its fullest. 

Gloria shrugged to Hop, to which he excitedly pumped his fist. “Alright, count us in!”

* * *

“Is everything alright, Leon? You seem a bit...off today.”

Leon tried not to wince from Chairman Rose’s scrutiny but it was so hard considering all that he learned about his true nature. His experiments, his money - were they all just stepping stones for the Darkest Day? All his charitable acts, all the children he made smile during his hospital visits, the praises people would sing for him about how great of a man he was - how much of that was even real?

The Champion couldn’t tell anymore.

The man he looked up to, the man who he regarded as a father figure and respected - Leon couldn’t keep clinging on to his denial any longer. But, if he couldn’t trust Rose, who could he trust? His best friend didn’t tell him what was going on, and the woman he loved didn’t trust him to protect her. It felt like his heart was being hammered by a stake, deeper and deeper, until he sunk to the ground and couldn’t get back up again. 

But, he had to get back up. He had a duty to fulfill as Galar’s Unbeatable Champion. Even if he had to crawl to accomplish that. 

“I’m sorry, Chairman. I’m just really excited for the Champion Cup that I didn't get much sleep last night!” That was partially the truth, but the real reason he didn’t get much sleep was because he felt heart-broken. 

Rose chuckled. “That’s very like you. Ah, which reminds me. I have something important I need to discuss with you tomorrow night.”

“The night before the finals? Isn’t that cutting a bit close?”

Rose raised an eyebrow at that, prompting Leon to clear his throat to clarify.

“I mean, can’t it wait until after the finals? I’ll be able to focus more on what you need to talk about with the Champion Cup out of the way. You know how side-tracked I can get sometimes.”

“Fair point, but this matter is rather urgent and needs to be addressed ASAP.”

“...I see. I understand. Just let me know of the time and I’ll be there.” Leon didn’t know why but, the longer he remained in Rose’s presence, the more...sick he felt. He chalked it up to nerves and the anxiety, but he hadn’t realized how...sluggish he felt all of a sudden. He had never experienced attacks like Leech Life, or Mega Drain, but if he did, it would probably feel like what he was feeling at the moment. 

He wanted to get out,  _ now _ .

“Chairman, may I excuse myself for a bit? I’d like to catch up on the sleep that I’ve missed and I feel a headache creeping up on me.”

“Of course. I’ll see you in a few hours for the Opening Ceremony.” 

Leon practically stumbled out of the Chairman Rose’s office and barely caught himself from falling by bracing against the wall. What was happening to him? He was perfectly fine up until his usual meeting with Rose but now, he could hardly stand. He grit his teeth and sent out his Charizard, who was alarmed by his trainer’s fatigue and went to his side. He encouraged him to lean his weight on his as he pressed one of his claws on the down button of the elevator.

By the time they reached the bottom, all Leon saw was black. 

* * *

After venturing through the thick fog that surrounded Slumbering Weald, they finally arrived at the sacred grounds where Zacien and Zamazenta were supposedly sleeping. Sonia was a little anxious that they were going to get stopped and confronted like how Gloria and Hop had been at the start, but the fact that they were able to get this far without much trouble, allowed her to relax. The tapestry was a far cry from what the area actually looked and felt like. The sound of the gentle flowing rivers, the sunlight peeking through the treetops in warm rays, and the small fireflies that danced through the air without a care in the world. 

It really felt like they were walking through a place of legends. 

“This...this is amazing! This definitely looks like a place where legends are born!” Hop exclaimed, running up to the altar, before skidding to a stop upon noticing the worn-out sword and shield that were laying in front of the stone plaque. The weapons clearly had seen their fair share of battles that Hop was too afraid to pick one up in case they crumbled to dust from the lightest touch. Hell, even half of the sword looked like it was missing. 

“Here, let me handle them.” Sonia put on a pair of gloves so she could handle them with care, until she felt a jolt go up her arm at the briefest touch of the sword’s handle. She let out a yelp and looked at her arm for any injuries, but there were none. Strange. She was wearing rubber gloves so she shouldn’t have felt any sort of electrical shock. 

“Are you OK, Sonia?!” Gloria asked worryingly. 

Sonia nodded. “Y-Yeah, it didn’t really hurt but it was surprising.”

Anabel cautiously reached out for the shield, slowly, until she noticed a thin barrier materialize in front of her finger tips. “It seems like there’s some sort of barrier or seal covering them. Likely to prevent those unworthy from stealing.”

“Unworthy? Then, it definitely sounds like these two artifacts are important to the legend.” Sonia removed her hands and looked at Hop and Gloria expectantly. If they were able to see Zacien and Zamazenta, then there was no denying that they were chosen to be Galar's new heroes. 

Which meant that only they could wield the sword and shield.

“Hop. Gloria. You two should be able to touch them.”

The two trainer’s looked at the new Professor with disbelief. “Us?!”

“I know it’s a lot to take in, but if you two were able to see some form of Zacien and Zamazenta, then that means they chose you two to help protect Galar’s future.”

“Protect Galar’s future…” Hop looked down at his hands. “Am I really fit to play such an important role?”

“Of course you are, Hop! You heard, Sonia! Zamazenta chose you!” Gloria encouraged brightly. “And, don’t think you’re doing this alone. I’m right here with you.”

“Gloria....You’re right! Let’s do this! We’ll protect Galar from the Darkest Day!” Hop declared with newfound confidence. He stood in front of the shield and looked to Gloria, who nodded back at him with burning conviction, before reaching out for their respective weapons.

Hop held up the rusted shield in front of him and Gloria raised the rusted sword high into the sky, letting the sunlight touch its rough, brittle edges. 

…

...Was anything going to happen?

“...Maybe wielding the weapons isn't enough?” Looker suggested as he scratched the back of his neck.

“What if Zacien and Zamazenta can’t hear us so they don’t know they need to woken up?” Hop took a deep breath and shouted, “ZACIEN!!! ZAMAZENTA!!! ARE YOU THERE?!”

Gloria winced. “Hop! Do you want all of Galar to hear you?!”

Anabel crossed her arms and hummed thoughtfully. “Perhaps the only way for them to awaken is if they can see and feel the danger that Galar is in. If Rose is planning on unleashing the Darkest Day in two days, then that must be when they will appear.”

Hop groaned. “Seriously?”

“Now, now, Hop. What kind of hero would you be if you weren’t just a bit more patient?” Sonia chuckled. 

Hop opened his mouth to retort when he felt his Rotom phone buzzing in his pocket before it flew out and hovered in front of him. “Btzzzz! Juliet is calling!”

“Juliet’s calling? I wonder what for. Answer the call, Rotom-”

_ “Hop! Are you there?!” _

Hop’s heart dropped to his stomach. She sounded frantic. 

“I’m here! What’s wrong?!”

_ “Your brother collapsed and is in the hospital!” _

“What?!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehehe, love doing these cliffhanger endings, oho! 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading this chapter and feel free to leave a kudos and or comment if you'd like!


	24. The Time Has Come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fate of the Champion's Cup is uncertain, but the show must go on.

**Chapter 18 - The Time Has Come**

****

* * *

“Hey...why are so many people gathered in front of the Rose Tower?” Vanquil noticed, squinting his eyes as they slowly descended from the skies. 

“Wait...is that an ambulance?!” Tessu exclaimed with shock. 

The moment their feet touched the ground, Charizard whipped his head to them and pushed himself through the crowd and started to grunt and groan frantically in an effort to communicate something urgent to them. If Leon wasn’t by his ace’s immediate side, then that could only mean one thing. 

“Charizard! Is Leon OK?!” If an ambulance was here, of course he wasn’t OK, but it was the easiest question to ask to get a yes or no answer. Tiki nudged Juliet insistently, confirming her suspicions as Charizard shook his head rapidly and pointed at the open ambulance where Leon was being loaded into the ambulance on a stretcher. 

“Is there anyone here who can accompany the Champion?!” An EMS responder yelled over the crowd. 

“What about Chairman Rose? Maybe he should go with him…” A Macro Cosmos employee muttered. 

“Ohhhh! Pick me! Please pick me!” A female fan squealed. 

Juliet grit her teeth in disgust. Now wasn’t the time to swoon and sigh over someone who was unconscious for Arceus sake! And frankly, she didn’t trust Rose or Oleana to go with him. So, she squeezed herself through the crowd and raised her hand up high in front of the EMS responder. “I’ll go! I’m a friend and co-worker of Leon.”

“Right! Please hurry!” 

Juliet returned Charizard back into his Pokeball before jumping into the back of the ambulance after the stretcher had been loaded up and turned to her friends. “Tell the other Gym Leaders before coming to the hospital!”

“G-Got it! Be careful!” Mary called after before the back of the ambulance closed and sped off. 

In the ambulance, the responders were diligently doing their thing of applying an IV, checking his temperature, and keeping a close eye on his heart rate. Now that Juliet was by his side up close, she noticed how red his cheeks were and how his skin glistened with sweat. One of the responders even had to put an oxygen mask over his mouth by how hard he was gasping for air. 

He looked terrible, and she felt so helpless. Did he finally crumble under all the stress? Was their fight what broke the camel’s back? She felt so overwhelmed with guilt, but she wanted to do something - anything that would give him the least bit of comfort during his time of need. His hand was balled up tight into a fist, enduring the pain he must have been feeling. She gingerly held his fist in both of her hands and she squeezed it comfortingly, silently uttering a prayer for him to be OK. Her eyes shot open when she felt his fist open up to lace his fingers with her own and she looked to see Leon with an eye cracked open, looking at her pleadingly. 

She choked out a sob. “I-I’m here, Lee. You’re going to be alright.”

He squeezed her hand tight enough to make her wince, but she didn’t care. She squeezed right back because she wanted him to know that he wasn’t alone.

Letting go of his hand was the hardest thing to do when they finally arrived at the hospital. A nurse had to hold her back from running after him as they took him away to the emergency room. Her body shook and quaked in worry that she had no strength left in her legs that she sank to her knees. The same nurse crouched down beside her and patted her shoulder soothingly. 

“He’s going to be OK. He’s running a high fever, but it’s not life-threatening.”

Juliet sniffled and nodded slowly. The nurse helped her back to her feet and escorted her to the waiting area and promised to let her know when she’d be allowed to see him when he was moved to a proper room. But, she hated sitting for too long in a hospital. Being surrounded by other sick patients made the atmosphere of hospitals so dreary and depressing, and seeing patients hooked up to IVs didn’t help with the uneasiness in Juliet’s stomach.

She needed some fresh air so she told the nurse that she would be right back before stepping outside to call Hop. 

* * *

Hop had never run so fast in his life that he would have smacked his face right in the automatic doors if they didn’t open quick enough for him. He whipped his head around the waiting room, looking for Juliet or anyone who would know where his brother was. When he didn’t spot her, he started a nurse when he slammed both of his hands on the counter she was sitting behind. “Where’s my brother?!”

Sonia pulled back the hysterical trainer and bowed her head apologetically to the nurse. “We’re sorry for barging in like this. He’s Leon’s younger brother and the rest of us are friends of his. Can you tell us where his room is?”

“Y-Yes, of course! Please follow me.” The nurse led them through a series of the same, sterile looking hallways before turning a corner to a special private room for well-known figures and celebrities that needed the privacy away from curious onlookers and journalists. Some of the Gym Leaders were sitting outside of Leon’s room and perked their heads up as Hop, Gloria, Sonia, Anabel, and Looker arrived. 

“I-It’s you guys…” Allister mumbled. 

“Is...Is my brother OK?” Hop asked, his voice cracking and on the verge of tears.

Kabu patted the young trainer’s head. “Your brother is doing much better now. He still has a high fever, but they’re keeping it under control.”

Hop would have fallen on his back if Looker wasn’t there to catch him. “Thank Arceus…”

Anabel approached the two security guards guarding the door and flashed her ID to them. Their eyes widened and they saluted out of respect before opening the door for her. “Hop, let’s go check on your brother.”

Hop wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket and followed after the agent, but not before bumping into Juliet out of eagerness. “J-Juliet…”

Her eyes were all puffy and swollen from crying so much, but even so, she managed to crack a small smile for him. “He’s going to be OK, Hop…”

He sniffled. “Thank you for being there for my brother…”

She ruffled his hair playfully before letting him inside Leon’s room and walking back out into the hall where Sonia looked at her expectantly. 

“What happened to Leon?”

Juliet looked down at her feet. “I...I don’t know the details but, when we were on our way to Wyndon Stadium to check in, we noticed a lot of people crowded around Rose Tower and when we landed to see what was wrong, Charizard came out of the crowd and over to us. He was making a fuss and we knew if Leon wasn’t nearby to calm him down, then something was wrong. The doctors said that he likely fainted from developing a high fever.”

“Oh my god...but, doesn’t he go to see Rose every day? He must have been fine enough if he could make his way there - how could he get a fever so quickly?” Sonia pondered.

“Who knows...maybe he knew he wasn’t feeling well but thought he could just power through it…”

“Seems like the only logical solution now is to postpone the Champion Cup until Leon recovers.” Melony chimed in. “He’s always so excited and fired up during this time of year…”

“Indeed, but not when he can’t even think straight. I can contact Chairman Rose to let him know that-” Kabu started, until being interrupted by the tell-tale sound of high heels clicking closer and closer. They turned their heads to see the poker-faced secretary, Oleana. 

“M-Miss Oleana…”

“Good day to you all. I’m here to let you know that the Champion Cup will still go on as scheduled.” 

They gasped in disbelief and shock, Kabu stepping in to protest. Despite his age, the Fire-type Gym Leader was one of the wisest of them all and he was no stranger to what happens when one overexerts themselves. He was a man with pride and he wanted things to be fair for everyone. “With all due respect, Leon is in no condition to participate when he’s incapacitated! All of us have trained hard for this event and it would be in bad sportsmanship if one of us is unable to fight their hardest-”

“I understand your concern, but it’s vital that the Champion Cup stays on its current schedule and we’ve already made adjustments so Leon doesn’t have to appear for this evening’s Opening Ceremonies. Therefore, he has all of today and tomorrow to rest before the finals.” Oleana countered. 

Bea shot up from her seat. “But, that’s not enough time! If this was a regular cold then maybe, but he has a fever! His body needs all the rest it can-”

“Please, calm down everyone. I’m merely speaking on behalf of the Chairman. These were his orders and if you have any complaints, you can direct them to him instead.”

“Aren’t you his secretary? Isn’t it your job to let him know that we don’t agree with this?” Sonia retorted. 

“I’m afraid there’s only so much that I can do. Even if I tell him, his mind is already set. I must be taking my leave now. I suggest you all do the same, seeing as there are preparations and rehearsals we need to go through now that there’s a change in the script.” Oleana bowed her head politely before walking away with the click of her heels that echoed just as loudly as her orders. 

Juliet bit her lip anxiously. That exchange basically confirmed her suspicions. Chairman Rose was definitely planning on unleashing the Darkest Day during the finals. He wasn’t willing to negotiate or wait any longer. He had a goal and he was going to see it through as soon as possible. Even if Leon was out of the picture, they weren’t going to give up now. She leaned close to Sonia’s ear. “Did you guys find anything useful about Zacien and Zamazenta?”

Sonia nodded. “We did. In fact, we managed to find the place where they’re probably resting and we even recovered two artifacts that are definitely linked to their awakening.”

“Good work. In that case, my team will head over to Wyndon Stadium now since we can’t stick around much longer because we’re MCs. For now, do what you need to do and let the others know about the emergency meeting tonight.”

* * *

Leon had never been in so much pain before. Despite his fever going down enough where he could breathe more easily and he had enough strength to open both of his eyes, the pain he felt up to this point was something that he couldn’t shake off of him. It felt like his brain was pulsating to the point of exploding, the thoughts in his head amplified that he swore he could actually hear them outloud, and it felt like someone had shackled iron balls to every limb on his body. He had never experienced such a painful fever before - one that felt like he wasn’t even in control of his own body anymore. He knew his body well and understood the power and strength it was capable of, but as he lay there in the hospital bed, it didn’t feel like this was his body at all. 

The moments leading up to blacking out went by in a blur. 

Charizard. 

Elevator. 

So many voices crowded around him.

Sirens. 

A warm hand and a weak prayer. 

What was going to happen now? Was the Champion Cup going to be postponed? What about Rose’s plan of-

A jolt of pain shot through his head every time his mind began to worry and stress over the things that had been weighing him down for the past few days. It was like...his anxiety was manifesting into actual, physical pain, and the only way he could find some peace of mind, was to just think of nothing. 

More voices, but not the same voices from earlier. 

Was that...Raihan?

Maybe...Milo and Nessa too?

He couldn’t tell exactly. Their voices were warped and muffled, like he was underwater. 

When Leon mustered enough energy to open his eyes, he was certainly not expecting his mother to be sitting by his bedside, wringing out a wet cloth over a basin. She nearly dropped the cloth in surprise when she turned to see that he was awake. After she placed the cool, damp cloth over his forehead, she comfortingly squeezed her son’s hand. 

“Hey there, sleepy head. How are you feeling?”

“Mum…” Leon croaked out. “Better than I did before....”

Holly sighed in relief. “That’s good. You gave me quite a scare after getting a call from your brother while I was on the train, on my way to Wyndon for the Champion Cup.”

“Sorry for causing you trouble…”

“Oh, don’t be sorry, sweetheart, but I am concerned about how you caught such a bad fever. You tend to overwork yourself, but you’re smart enough to know when you need rest before letting it get to this point.”

“I know, mum, but believe me when I say-” Leon coughed, his breath getting caught in his throat from trying to speak too quickly. He paused, taking a generous gulp of air before continuing. “It happened immediately after seeing Chairman Rose.”

His mom raised her eyebrow at that. “He didn’t do anything to you, did he?”

“No. As far as I remember. Maybe I’m overthinking things but...the longer I spent around him, the more...sick I felt. I don’t know how else to describe it but...just how quickly it happened felt like it wasn’t just a coincidence…” Leon burst into a fit of coughs, spurring Holly to pour him a cup of water from the pitcher that sat on the hospital stand. She coaxed him to sit up enough so she could hold the cup for him as he slowly drank the water offered to him. 

“Alright...That’s enough talking for now. Get some rest OK?”

“What about the-”

“The Gym Leaders told me that the Champion Cup will still go on and they revised the Opening Ceremonies so you don’t have to appear tonight.” Holly stroked her son’s hair. “Try not to stress yourself over it and focus on getting your energy back first.”

“OK...but before that...can you go into my shorts to bring me my lucky charm?” He asked weakly. 

Holly noticed that his Champion jersey, cape, shorts, leggings, and shoes were folded on a stool on the other side of his bed and walked over to fetch what he requested. She fished through both pockets of his shorts until she pulled out a Heart Scale. Was this his lucky charm? She couldn’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia looking at it, until she realized where it likely came from. 

Holly smiled knowingly. “This is the Heart Scale you and Juliet got back in Hoenn when you helped out that baby Luvdisc, isn’t it? I had no idea you kept it with you all this time-”

Leon’s fever was already attributing to the deep flush across his face, but in that moment, his mom swore she saw his cheeks blush deeper at her comment. It was nothing to be ashamed of, seeing as she knew how much that time meant to him and the fondness he carried when they returned home. Sometimes when Leon wasn’t looking, she would catch him holding up the Heart Scale to let the sun reflect a rainbow across his bedroom walls with a gentle smile on his face. 

As much as she wanted to tease him, now wasn’t really the time for it. So, she placed the smooth scale into his hand, which he clutched onto before drifting off to sleep once more. 

The moment he drifted off, the door to his room quietly opened with Juliet sticking her head into the room, checking to see if he was awake or not. Her eyes met Holly’s and she immediately entered the room properly and straightened her back. Thinking about it now, this was the first time seeing Leon and Hop’s mom in the last 8 years that she wasn’t sure of how to greet the woman. 

“L-Long time no see, Miss Holly,” Juliet greeted politely.

Holly giggled. “Miss? Just Holly is fine. Look at how much you’ve grown!”

“Aha...Not really. I didn’t grow much since the last time you saw me. The genetic lottery wasn’t very kind to me.” Juliet joked with a nervous laugh. “How have you been?”

“Oh, you know, same old, same old. Taking care of my sons and watching them grow up to be strong and fine Pokemon Trainers. How about you, Juliet? I heard you’ve been helping out with the Gym Challenge with your friends from Hop.”

“That’s right! My friends and I moved to Galar over a year ago and made a name for ourselves from doing Max Raids. We’ve also been working for Professor Magnolia to help her with Dynamax research along with Sonia. Sorry I didn’t take the time to reach out to you sooner since you and my aunt were on good terms.”

“Oh, please don’t apologize for that! I know all too well by how busy life can get. Better late than never, right?” Holly reassured. 

“Right. And…” Juliet pulled up a chair next to Holly. “There’s something else I actually need to apologize for…”

“Oh? What for?”

“I...I may be one of the reasons why Leon exerted himself to the point of developing a fever. Some...stressful things have been happening lately, not just with the Champion Cup, that we had an argument the other day that clearly upset him. But, it was my fault because I didn’t trust him…” 

“Juliet…” Holly placed a hand on top of hers. “Don’t blame yourself for what happened to Leon. Arguments and fights are stressful to deal with for sure, but I think in this case, it wasn’t the tipping point.” 

“...You think so?”

“I know so. In fact, if he didn’t forgive you, I don’t think he would be calling out for you in his sleep.” She added with a playful grin. 

Juliet flushed right to her ears, completely caught off guard by the sudden shift in mood. “He what?!”

Holly winked. “Just kidding~!”

“Geez, don’t tease me like that…”

“I had to or else you would have kept frowning. Your aunt used to talk about how happy it made her to see you smile and I could tell it was contagious because I noticed that Leon was always smiling when he was around you. Not that he didn’t smile before but, it was a different kind of unbridled happiness that I’ve never really seen from him.” Holly closed her eyes and let her mind wander back to fond memories. “Truth be told, he wasn’t home very often because the Chairman was raising him to be the picture perfect Champion so, seeing him so happy during those times I had with him, I treasured those moments.”

Juliet’s eyes softened. “It must have been hard not being able to see your child very often.”

“It was and it’s something every parent braces for, but I just didn’t expect it to happen the way it did. I have many photos of him around our house because they give me comfort whenever he wasn’t physically around. Some of my friends who come to visit ask me if I favor Leon more than Hop as a result, but that’s absolutely not the case!” Holly placed a hand over her chest, as if trying to endure and hold back the rush of emotions that rose within. “After my husband left, I made a vow to give twice as much love and care to them to compensate for the loss of their father. I can hug and talk to Hop more often than I can for Leon, so I don’t necessarily need the comfort of photos because Hop was always there to receive my love in person.”

“Holly…”

“I worry about whether Leon is truly happy with where he is because most of the smiles I’ve seen from him are through a TV screen. That’s why…” Holly turned to Juliet with a warm smile, her eyes glistening with gratitude. “I want to thank you for being able to make him smile. Truly smile.”

Juliet smiled sheepishly. It sort of felt like his mom was giving her a bit too much credit for her son’s happiness, but at the same time, it came from a place of fondness for the child that she didn’t get to see as often. Constantly worrying and thinking about whether they were OK and the kind of person they were becoming, the one thing that gives them that relief is knowing that they were happy. She and many others played their own roles in Leon’s life, and each of them have made him happy for different reasons.

Holly no doubt worried about the thought of anyone taking advantage of her son’s happiness and popularity, which is why she was forever grateful for the genuine support that he did have from the people he can call his friends. 

“You’re welcome, Holly. Leon’s happiness means a lot to me, which is why I want him to get better soon so I can apologize to him properly. He deserves that at least.”

“I’m sure he’ll have no trouble forgiving you. After all this time, he’s still holding on to something from that time, as his lucky charm.” Holly mentioned, pointing at his curled fist where Juliet could see bits of the Heart Scale peeking out from his palm. 

Juliet didn’t think Leon was superstitious, but then again, everyone had that object that never failed to give them comfort when it was needed. Whether it was a stuffed animal, family heirloom - there was always something to hang on to for some sort of luck. “Is that...a Heart Scale?”

“Yes. It’s one of the Heart Scales that you and Leon got as a gift from a family of Luvdiscs after finding their baby. Do you still have yours?”

“I…” Did she…? She couldn’t remember ever having a Heart Scale. It seemed like something she would have owned when she was younger, back when she would collect shells and beach glass every time she went to the beach. But, she couldn’t recall encountering a family of Luvdiscs before. Wasn’t there a legend surrounding the fish Pokemon, where any couple who caught sight of them would be blessed with eternal love? 

She didn’t want to think too hard on that if she did encounter them with Leon.

“I still have mine! I keep it in my night stand since looking at it reminds me of Hoenn.” She didn’t want to disappoint Leon’s mom by admitting that she didn’t remember, but it was something she would do if she did have it on hand. If she had time, it probably couldn’t hurt to double check her flat to make sure…

“Oh, that’s good. I’m sure Leon would be happy to hear that!” Holly replied with relief. “By the way, I noticed you have a bag of apples there. Are you planning on making an apple pie or apple curry or something?”

“Oh, right! I actually bought these for Leon. You know what they say - an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Juliet joked before pulling out an apple and a small knife. Whenever she got sick, her aunt would always cut her apples and peaches, but in the shape of rabbits to cheer her up. It brought a smile to her face every time and she hoped it had the same effect on Leon. 

Anything to make him happy again. 

* * *

“Is it alright for us to go on without Champion Leon here? I feel like we should postpone the Champion Cup all together.”

“No kidding. I heard that he collapsed at the Rose Tower! The Champion always powered through everything so I wonder what happened to him…”

“Seems like Rose is keeping the media under wraps about it, but word has already spread around so quickly-”

Hop couldn’t block out the murmurings and passing conversations about his brother and the more he listened, the more worried he felt. He couldn’t in good conscience keep battling his best knowing that his brother wasn’t in good shape. It was like Kabu said - it wasn’t fair to give it their all when Leon couldn’t. What made his anxieties more apparent, was thinking about how his brother probably wouldn’t be allowed to see him battle in person. Obviously he couldn’t blame him for getting sick, but it still felt like getting punched in the gut knowing how hard he trained to get here. Hop so badly wanted to show Leon how much he had grown as a trainer and see how proud he would be. 

But, he wasn’t the only one who was in low spirits by the turn of events. Even Gloria, who was sitting beside him in the tournament waiting room, didn’t seem to be in the mood for conversation. She was just as distracted as he was. 

Hop bumped his shoulder against hers. “You OK, mate?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. For the most part.”

“Glo.”

Gloria sighed. “Alright, you got me. This just doesn’t feel right. Is it alright for the Champion Cup to keep going on like nothing’s wrong?”

“No, it’s not. But, we have to play along in order for things to go smoothly. Trust me, I don’t like it either but we have to trust that everything is going to be OK. We’ve...We’ve been chosen by Zacien and Zamazenta after all-”

“Zacien and Zamazenta?”

Hop and Gloria jumped in surprise from seeing Marnie right behind them and leaning close. “Relax. My brother told me what’s been going on.”

“H-He did?” Hop squeaked. 

“Yeah. He was actin’ weird lately so I asked him about it. He figured it was OK since if I knew, it’d be easier to protect me.”

“...You haven’t told anyone, have you?”

“‘Course not. I don’t have many friends besides you two and I doubt anyone would believe me. But, I think I know how you feel Hop. If I knew my brother wasn’t feelin’ well, I’d be too busy worryin’ to do anything. But, at the same time, I think your brother would want you to keep fightin’ and trust that he’s going to be OK. If anything, it’ll probably make him feel better knowin’ that you’re capable of movin’ forward.” Marnie reassured gently, taking a seat on the other side of him. 

“You think so? I guess a part of me also feels bad because he’s always so hyped and excited for this time of year. It’s not fair to have fun without him.” Hop mumbled. 

“That’s nice of ya, Hop, but there’s not much else we can do so it’s best to make the most of it. I don’t want to battle either of you if your hearts aren’t in it.” Marnie wasn’t the talkative type, but just like her brother, she surprisingly had a lot of good wisdom to spare. Perhaps it was par for the course with having a brother who had a knack for writing songs from the heart and understanding the struggle that came from living in a town that had lived past its glory days. 

“...Thanks for the encouragement, Marnie. We both appreciate it.” Gloria thanked with a small smile. Marnie struggled to smile back, but her lips definitely quirked up so they could both tell she was trying. 

“By the way, what did you mean when you said you were chosen by-”

“Can I have everyone’s attention please? The Opening Ceremonies will be starting shortly so we need to do a roll call to make sure all the finalists are here!” One of the staff members announced.

Marnie pouted. “Guess it’ll have to wait.”

“Actually Marnie, why don’t you come with Hop and I after the Opening Ceremonies? Juliet is going to be holding an emergency meeting.” Gloria suggested. 

“If it’s alright, then sure. I’ll tag along.”

* * *

“You went to visit Leon, right? How was he?” Phil asked.

“He was sleeping when I went to visit but I got to talk to his mom for a little bit. He seemed to be doing better than earlier today.” Juliet replied.

Phil leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms before letting out a sigh of relief. “Phew that’s a relief. He must have over-hyped himself a bit too much this year. It’s a bummer that he won’t be able to make it tonight. Word is going around and I can tell from just looking at everyone’s faces in the stands that they’re worried.”

“Yeah...I don’t blame them. You would think that Rose would be a bit more...caring considering how important Leon is.”

“You can say that again. I mean, people paid a lot for their tickets, especially those who paid extra for the good seats, to see Leon at his best! It would be a shame not to give the people what they paid for.” Phil, realizing how insensitive that sounded, sputtered in defense. “I-I mean, I’m not saying people shouldn’t prioritize their money over Leon’s well-being-”

Juliet chuckled. “Don’t worry, I know what you meant. And, I’m sure Leon feels that way too. Every time he steps out onto the field and sees how many people have come to see him, he knows that they made the conscious choice to spend their money and time to see him and it’s only right to make it worth their while.”

“Exactly. And just between you and me, I noticed Rose acting a bit...strange lately.” Phil whispered. He rolled his chair closer to hers and gestured to her to speak quietly. 

“Oh? How so?”

“Well, you and your team knows how I’ve been the main MC for the Gym Challenge and Champion Cup for the past few years, right? I wouldn’t say I’m close to Rose, but I’m pretty familiar with who he is. Since there’s been a change in tonight’s script, I wanted to go over it with him one more time so I can get you guys up to speed, but when I looked into his eyes, I swore I saw something...I don’t know, lurking? It was almost like...I wasn’t talking to Rose.”

Juliet raised her eyebrow. “Are you implying that he’s being possessed by something?”

Phil grimaced. “Possessed feels a bit exaggerated but maybe something like that? Maybe not possessed but...hmm. You know how sometimes when you think about making a decision, you think about the benefits and drawbacks before acting on it right?”

All too well, Phil, Juliet thought to herself. 

“Rose has always been thoughtful and careful about the decisions he makes, but continuing with the Champion Cup even though Leon is in bad shape, and all the experiments he’s been doing? It’s almost like he’s not really...thinking about the consequences for his actions.”

“Wait...How do you know he’s been doing experiments?” Juliet interjected with suspicion.

“You think that only his close employees would know? It doesn’t matter how much money he spends to shut the media up, people will find out about it one way or another. Besides, it’s kind of hard to ignore the black outs and explosions that have been happening in Hammerlocke.” Phil defended. 

Right...She completely forgot that Phil lived in Hammerlocke. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to suspect that you knew what’s actually going on.”

“Muwahaha, I was the whistleblower all along!” Phil joked. “But, joking aside, I wish I knew and I’m sure everyone else wishes too. But, I’m sure whatever Rose has been doing, it wouldn’t be related to the Champion Cup, right?”

Juliet swallowed the big lump in her throat. “I agree. Though, if Rose has been acting as weird as you’ve said, we should probably keep an eye on him just in case.”

Phil shrugged. “I guess that’s an option but can’t Oleana do that?”

“A few extra pair of eyes don’t hurt-”

“We’re back! Sorry for the wait! The lines at all the food stalls were so loooooooooong.” Tessu complained, setting down Phil and Juliet’s share of food that consisted of corn dogs, fries, and popcorn. “We were this close to just going downtown to get something but we would be cutting it pretty close.”

“Thanks for getting food for us! At least food tastes better the more hungry you are.” Phil chuckled. 

“That’s true. It was a little sad seeing how excited people are even though they don’t know that Leon isn’t going to be here tonight.” Vanquil added, plopping himself down on his chair. “I wonder if he’ll be OK by the finals.”

“He had all day today and all of tomorrow to rest, and I bet he’s being treated by the best doctors so here’s hoping.” Mary hummed. 

They spent the remainder of their break finishing their food before getting into their positions before the start of the Opening Ceremonies. They waited with bated breath as each seat in the stadium filled up more with fans until there was no empty seat in sight. Then, the main lights in the stadium shut off all at once, with only the sparkles of light coming from everyone’s glow sticks offering any illumination before two spotlights shone down on Chairman Rose, who was standing directly in the middle of the field. 

“Welcome one and all to the long awaited Champion Cup! Our Gym Challengers have travelled far and wide through each Gym, taking on challenge after challenge, but not everyone who has entered, have made it this far. The trainers who are here today are the trainers who have what it takes to stand against any obstacle that’s in their way, believing in themselves and their Pokemon to stand on top. However, there will only be one finalist who will battle through the finals gauntlet against the other Gym Leaders, to fight for the opportunity to face off against Galar’s greatest Champion - Leon!” Rose announced. “Now, I’m sure some of you may have heard about Leon’s well-being but I assure you, he is doing just fine and will be present to battle the trainer who will be standing on the other side of the field! Our beloved Champion was so excited about this year’s Champion Cup that he accidentally trained himself a little too hard yesterday, but has prepared a special message for you all!”

Raid Prism and Phil all looked at each other confusingly. That...That wasn’t in the script. Their eyes followed Rose’s arms to the various jumbo screens that displayed throughout the stadium and what looked to be a pre-recorded message began to play. Juliet bit her lip anxiously. Of course Rose would have something prepared in the event something like this would happen. He always had to be prepared for everything. 

“Good evening, Galar! I sincerely apologize for not being present tonight for the Opening Ceremonies! The Champion Cup means everything to me and my absence just means I’m working thrice as hard to give the finalist a battle to remember! But, for all the Gym Challengers who have made it this far, and even those who didn’t, I want you all to know that I’m proud of you. It takes courage and confidence to take that step towards your goals and dreams, and everything you’ve learned and encountered over your journey has made you into a better trainer and person than when you first started. Keep challenging yourself, keep believing in yourself and your Pokemon, because I believe in you. I know each of you will keep pushing yourselves to the limit and I will be watching to see who burns the brightest! Good luck, everyone, and I eagerly look forward to who I will be facing off against in the Champion Cup finals!” The recording ended with Leon doing his iconic pose, which sent the audience into an excited frenzy. All things considered, it was a very genuine and encouraging speech and surely it would have been more impactful to hear it in person, but knowing that it was pre-recorded way in advance as fail-proof to hide Leon’s condition, it left a bad taste in their mouths. 

“Yeah, because a person who’s sick would be clear-headed enough to say all that.” Phil mumbled sarcastically to himself before leaning into his mic to say his piece. “And without further ado, please give a big round of applause to all the Gym Challengers who have received all eight Gym badges!”

* * *

Leon watched the Opening Ceremonies on the TV in his room with tears of frustration welling up in his eyes. He never wanted it to get to a point where Rose had to use that recording at all because it would never be the same. Not being there at all, it wasn’t the same! He should be standing on that field with everyone else so they could see the honesty and pride burning in his eyes for each of them - not hear the manufactured words that he read from a script a few years ago through a recording.

He felt pathetic just watching everything happen without him. 

When a nurse walked in to check on him, he looked at him seriously and asked. “May I attend the Champion Cup tomorrow?”

The nurse nearly dropped his clipboard in surprise. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Your condition has definitely improved from this morning but-”

“Please. At least let me watch my brother battle. I want to see how much he’s grown as a trainer and I promised I’d be there to support him.” Leon pleaded. He would pray and pray that he would be well enough to at least be the supportive brother he always strived to be. 

* * *

“Annnnnd, that’s a wrap on the recording! I think it turned out great!” Vanquil cheered.

“It’s definitely different than what we usually post but I’m sure it’ll reach someone, right Jules? Jules?” Mary repeated, poking her friend’s shoulder. What they recorded was certainly enough, but...there was more that Juliet wanted to say - needed to say, in order to keep her promise of changing into someone that people can believe in and rely on. 

She stepped in front of her group and gently pried Vanquil’s new Rotom phone from his hands. “There’s actually one more thing I have to do.”

“Jules? What are you-”

“I’m going to do this in one take and I don’t want you to edit a single thing, OK, Van?”

Vanquil blinked but nodded. “OK.”

Juliet turned the Rotom into drone mode and the moment she heard the recording click go off, she took a deep breath. 

Rely on others, so that they can rely on you. 

And…

Believe that anyone has the power to change the world. 

“To everyone from all the other regions who are watching what’s happening to the Galar region, I have a big favour to ask of you,”

* * *

On the following morning, alarm bells rang through the Power Plant, but Rose and Oleana calmly walked through the hangar as Macros Cosmos and scientists scrambled to get the situation under control. But Eternatus wasn’t having any of it. It thrashed and roared about in its confinements, slamming its body against the accursed glass to get out. Rose approached the round, glass cage with an eerily calm smile, looking admiringly at the fruits of his labour over the course of 10 years. Eternatus roared wickedly at the man, but Rose was hardly fazed. 

“What’s with these alarms? Aren’t you supposed to be monitoring its energy levels?” Oleana barked. 

“W-We’re trying, Miss Oleana! But, the subject is getting out of control-” A scientist stammered.

“Then, get it under control!”

“Y-Yes ma’am! Hey, you two! Go check on the control panels in the other rooms!”

“Right away, sir!” The Macros Cosmos employee saluted before running out of the hangar with another fellow employee following close behind him. He walked through the winding halls, passing by various rooms until he settled on one that seemed vacant for the time being. When he was certain that there was no one else besides him and the other employee, he removed his bright visors and sighed heavily. 

“I’ve been doing this for decades now and it always feels hair raising every time.” Looker heaved. “You doing OK, Kazz? You put up a good act for a Zoroark.”

Kazz usually wasn’t the cooperative type to anyone other than his beloved trainer, Mary, but knowing that she personally vouched for his abilities and reliability, he had to uphold his pride that he wouldn’t let his trainer down with this mission. Kazz nodded silently and stood by the door to guard it with his sharp senses as Looker typed away at the control panel in hopes of extracting any sort of solid evidence against Rose. Though, he wasn’t expecting there to be anything substantial since the facility did operate as a genuine Power Plant, but Looker wouldn’t be a part of the International Police if he wasn’t thorough. Who knows what else Rose was keeping behind closed doors, because to him, even though the Chairman was going to be charged for the Darkest Day without a doubt, he needed to be held accountable for everything else he had done. 

“Keep an eye and ear out for anyone who might be nearby, Kazz. Hopefully this won’t take long-”

“Looker, report in.”

Looker pressed his hand behind his ear, where a tiny earpiece was stuck on. “Looker, reporting in, Chief. I’ve successfully infiltrated the Power Plant and I’m going through the control panel now. Kazz is guarding the door, but I haven’t found anything yet.”

“That’s OK, you don’t need to rush with this unless your cover is blown-”

“Ouch. No faith for your reliable subordinate?”

“Oh, you know what I meant. Anyway, be careful and report anything you find.”

“Roger that, Chief.”

* * *

Hop hung his head low, listening to the distant cheers and the muffled sounding announcement that Gloria had successfully won against Marnie in her match, his heart thundering in his chest as a result. Of course she won. He expected nothing less from his best friend who never lost a match as far as he knew. Ironic, wasn’t it? It was like she was following Leon’s footsteps for his flawless streak more than Hop ever hoped to be. He reminded himself over and over that he shouldn’t give up - he wouldn’t give up. He had a dream and he was going to see it through. The next match would decide whether that dream was going to be a reality. A battle that was going to change his life for better or for worse, against his best friend no less. 

The only thing that could possibly make the pounding of his heart more bearable is if his brother was here to watch him.

But he wasn’t

“Take it easy, Champion! We can’t have you fainting again-”

“I’m fine - really.”

Hop’s head shot up at the sound of his brother's hoarse voice and he whipped his head around to see his brother, in all of his glory, despite his hunched appearance. Leon met his younger brother’s eyes and smiled at him weakly.

“Hey, Hopscotch...I’m not late am I?”

Ignoring his brother’s bad joke, Hop bit back his tears and would have launched himself into his brother’s chest if he wasn’t currently debilitated. He opted to run up to him and carefully wrapped his arms around Leon’s neck and sobbed gently. Leon chuckled lightly and wound his own arms around his younger brother’s torso, patting his back gently. 

“I can’t believe you right now…” Hop choked out.

“I know but, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I wasn’t there to support my brother as he faced toughest battle. What kind of brother would I be otherwise?” Leon croaked. 

“Mum’s gonna flip out…”

“Not if you don’t tell her.”

Hop snorted. “No promises. But seriously, thank you for coming, Lee-”

“Challenger Hop! The finals for the preliminaries are about to begin.” A staff member announced, eyes widening upon seeing the Champion in a sickly state. “C-Champion?! What are you doing here? You should be-”

“I’m fine. This isn’t about me right now. This is about Hop and Gloria.” Leon countered. The Champion took one last look at Hop, his gaze lingering on the Challenger uniform he wore and being filled with pleasant nostalgia. The way Hop was standing now in front of him, both of his fists balled up, shoulders tense, and lips drawn into a tight line - it was no different from how he looked all those years ago. He knew Hop was trying his best to keep his nerves in check by how uptight his posture was. Which is why Hop stumbled and grunted in surprise when his older brother gave him a rough pat on his shoulder, which effectively loosened his shoulders and released the stiffness in his hands.

“Ouch! Lee! Not so hard!”

“Sorry. I had to or else you’d be walking out onto the pitch with your head sunken into your shoulders.” Leon chuckled. “Good luck out there, Hop.”

Hop nodded confidently, slapping his cheeks as he always did to psych himself up for every battle, just like his brother did. With every breath he took as he took those steps down the dimly lit hall leading out to the field, his heart raced faster and faster to the point where all he could hear was his pounding heartbeat over the chorus of cheers. It was almost dizzying, being pumped up with adrenaline and determination and for once, Hop didn’t falter or hesitate when his eyes met Gloria’s as they crossed to the middle of the field. From his first loss during his first battle, and to all the losses in between - the victories that came after each of those losses are what led him now, standing in front of his best friend, and greatest rival, for a battle that would seal both of their fates. 

“I just had this sort of flashback, you know. Remember? Back when we were still in Postwick. When we got our Pokemon from Lee that day, I never would’ve dreamed that I’d end up standing here...facing you, of all people.” Hop took a steady breath and flashed his fiery, determined eyes at Gloria. “But, it’s time to finish what was started that day...Got it? The one who’ll become Champion is me!”

Gloria smirked, answering her best friend and rival’s challenge with fire of her own. “We’ll see about that.”

* * *

Chairman Rose watched the start of the preliminary finals from the comfort of his office at the top of Rose Tower. There was no need for him to be there, he thought. After all, he needed to make sure that Leon kept his promise to meet with him that night to discuss Galar’s future. The Chairman already had employees on stand-by the moment that match ended, so they could escort the Champion to their meeting. Everything was falling into place, piece by piece, which made Rose’s smile twist into something more wicked, more  _ hungry _ , knowing that his years of work and research was finally going to bear fruit for all to see. 

He swiveled around in his executive chair, tearing his calculating, cloudy eyes away from the TV, to the suit of armor, plated in the finest gold, displayed in a glass shelf on the far end of his office. It gleamed and shimmered, perfectly untouched and preserved from age and prying hands. Only one who was worthy would have the honor of donning the suit of armor, to lead the region of Galar towards a prosperous future.

That honor was not going to befall on Chairman Rose.

But,  _ someone else.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love slapping these chapters with cliffhangers at the end, hehe!
> 
> I'm so excited for the next chapter and I hope you guys are too!
> 
> As always, thank you very much for reading this chapter and feel free to leave a kudos and or comment if you'd like!


	25. You are Challenged by ???

Dr. Fennel practically collapsed into her lab with armfuls of bags, alerting her assistants of her clumsy return and pried the bags away from her so she could regain her composure. She sighed heavily with relief, feeling the weight on her shoulders literally being lifted, before turning to her assistants with a cheery grin. “I’m back everyone! I hope things haven’t been too hectic without me!”

“Well, there hasn’t been much work here since we’ve been expecting you to come back with new findings. How are your Munna and Musharna doing? Need me to take a look at them?” A young man in a similar white lab coat, asked. His small, messy ponytail bobbed as he walked towards Dr. Fennel and outstretched his hand to accept the Pokeball with the aforementioned Pokemon. He tossed both of them out and examined them carefully with a curious stroke of his stubble and smiled gently at the great condition that both Munna and Musharna were in. 

“How are they, Matthew?” Dr. Fennel asked with a hopeful grin. 

“They look good to me. Better than last time when they nearly blew up the lab.” Matthew chuckled.

“That was one time and I said I was sorry!” Dr. Fennel huffed, walking past him to her office, where she slumped into her chair to go through the gruelling routine of catching up on phone calls and emails. 

“Soooo...you didn’t find anything, huh?” Matthew chimed in cheekily, sticking his head into her office. Dr. Fennel would have thrown something at him if she wasn’t already so exhausted from the trip back. She pouted by the number of voice messages that were left on her phone and pressed the play button to let the phone run through most of the spam messages advertising things like windows and cleaning services. 

“Not anything mind-blowing but I learned a few things. I’ll talk to you about it later-”

_“Hello, Dr. Fennel. This is Dr. Greyson again. I’m calling to remind you that my patient, Juliet, is still interested in speaking with you about recurring nightmares she has been experiencing-”_

Oh, right! Dr. Fennel completely forgot about that! She was so preoccupied with preparing for her business trip in Alola that she ended up staying for longer than she had intended due to there being some issues with Ultra Beasts popping up in the region and effectively stopping anyone from travelling in and out of the region. When they were finally dealt with, it took awhile for things to settle and for travel to resume that she had completely forgot about giving this Juliet person a consultation. 

As Dr. Fennel reached for the phone to call back the number left at the end of the message, Matthew’s hands suddenly shot out to replay the voice message again, his blue eyes wide in disbelief. “S-Sorry. Dr. Fennel but….can you replay this message again?”

“Hm? Do you know Dr. Greyson?” She wondered curiously.

“No, but, I could have sworn she mentioned a patient named ‘Juliet’...”

Dr. Fennel raised her eyebrow. “Yes, that’s correct. I got a message from this doctor requesting that I give a consultation with her patient but it was before my trip so I couldn’t get back to her. Do you know Juliet?”

Matthew swallowed thickly and he bit his lip anxiously. Of course he knew that name. That name had always haunted his thoughts. Not in an overtly bad way but, more out of...sadness. Regret. There was the off-chance that there was another person named Juliet, but something in his gut told him that, no, this was the Juliet he knew. The Juliet that was his younger sister. No, he had no right to call her that. Not after what their parents did, and not after what he didn’t do as her older brother. In a way he was...relieved that at the very least she was OK, wherever she was, and he always wanted to see her again, but...she probably wouldn’t want to. He had never talked to Dr. Fennel about his personal life in detail to spare her from the grief, but he wasn’t shocked by her stare at how emotional he probably looked to her. 

“...Well, I won’t pry into your business, Matthew, but it looks like this person means something to you. If you want, why don’t you come with me to Galar to see her?”

…

“Wait, come again?”

“You heard me - I’ve decided that I’m going to go to Galar myself to speak to Juliet in person! I’ve always wanted to learn more about Dynamax so-”

“But, you _just_ got back from Alola today!” Matthew sputtered. 

“I know but, I don’t want to keep a person who might need my help, waiting, so I’m going to head out again this evening! Make sure to pack your bags, Matthew!” Before Matthew could get another word in, Dr. Fennel was already making phone calls to book their plane tickets and hotel rooms, without his say on the matter. Though, knowing Dr. Fennel and how many years he worked for her, there was no use persuading her from a task that she already set out to do. Matthew slowly accepted his fate and walked out of his colleague’s office to head into his own to finish up his work before heading home to pack. He didn’t want to get too excited - this was just a business trip, nothing more. 

Even if Juliet looked at him in disdain, as long as she was OK and living her life to the fullest, that was enough for him.

* * *

“It’s getting down to the wire folks! Both Cinderace and Inteleon are barely hanging on, but it doesn’t look like either of them are willing to throw in the towel!” Phil boomed into his microphone. He and his other co-hosts were all on their feets, their bodies trembling with anticipation as if they were the ones battling instead of just merely spectating. 

It was such a close battle, but each Pokemon kept the other on edge with their respective strengths. Hop’s Cinderace was quick on his feet, but Gloria’s Inteleon made up for his nimbleness, just narrowly dodging each Pyro Ball that came his way with a slither. But, their back and forth could only go on for so long and Cinderace’s movements grew stuttered, lingering longer than necessary to ready another Pyro Ball. On the other hand, for the precision and accuracy that Inteleons were known for, he struggled to keep his hand steady with each snipe of water that shot from his finger. 

There was still a chance.

There was still a chance for Hop to turn this around!

Hop ignored the pounding in his head and commanded his Cinderace to dish out another Pyro Ball, to which Gloria followed up with another Snipe Shot in hopes of extinguishing the attack. The next few moments felt like it was happening in slow motion, and both competitor’s eyes widened as they watched their respective attacks narrowly miss each other, and continue onward towards their targets, with nothing else to get in their way. Both Cinderace and Inteleon were too weak to act quick enough and braced themselves for the attacks that hit them hard enough to unleash a shockwave of smoke across the field. 

The stadium fell completely silent, anxiously waiting for the smoke to clear. The various Rotom drones that buzzed around the stadium offered some clearance of the smoke thanks to their propellers, making everyone in the stadium rise from their seats simultaneously in hopes of catching a glimpse of which Pokemon was still standing. Hop and Gloria both couldn’t breathe, and they both let out a gasp from seeing both of their Pokemon, collapsed on the field. 

It was...a _tie?_

“A tie…?” Vanquil choked into his mic. 

Tessu slammed her hands on the desk and leaned far into her mic. “Wait! Look!”

When the smoke had cleared completely, and after a few more beats of silence. Inteleon groaned weakly, somehow mustering up the little energy he had left to pull himself onto his knees until he could stand upright and let out a loud cry that echoed throughout the stadium and shook everyone to the core. 

Inteleon pushed through. Gloria had won the preliminaries and would be moving on to the final tournament bracket. 

“Cinderace is unable to battle! Challenger Gloria wins!” Phil announced, 

The adrenaline that had been coursing through Gloria throughout the whole match had escaped, making her drop to her knees in shock, disbelief, and fatigue from how close the match ended up being. She shuffled to her Inteleon who nearly slumped completely into his trainer’s arm and held her tightly as she wept. “We did it, Inteleon! We’re moving on to the finals…!”

Hop, on the other hand, fell back onto his arse before sprawling his body across the field on his back, an arm folded just above his eyes to let the hot spot light blind his vision. He _lost._ This was the end of his dream of becoming the next Champion of the Galar region - an esteemed title that he dreamed of conquering his brother for. But, that was no longer the case. It didn’t feel real. The cheers and applause just sounded like white noise in his ears, because this wasn’t his victory. Those cheers weren’t for _him._ As it slowly dawned on him, his lips quivered, his throat tightened, and his eyes grew blurry from his watering eyes. He didn’t know how long he lay there, but he felt his Cinderace crawl over to him, with his head down in shame. Hop sniffled and shook his head, brushing his hand behind one of Cinderace’s ears and offered gentle scratches. 

“You put up an amazing fight, Cinderace. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s me. I just wasn’t strong enough.”

“But, you were strong, Hop. _So_ strong.”

Hop sat up to see Gloria standing by his feet with tearful eyes. “Glo…Why are you crying? You should be happy you won!”

“I am happy! But, I…” Gloria sobbed. “I stole your dream away from you. I’m...I’m so sorry…!” She fell to her knees and flung her arms around his neck. Hop blinked in surprise, but slowly relaxed and wrapped his own arms around her, stroking her short brunette hair.

“Mate, you did anything but steal my dream. We both had similar goals, but you ended up being the stronger one through your own hard work. I’m not going to take that away from you. You’ve earned it - fair and square.” Hop tightened his arms around her as he felt his restraint from crying, crack little by little. His voice, now hoarse and unsteady, had enough conviction left to say, “If there’s one person that I’m glad will carry on my dream for me, it’s you. So, you better beat my brother, you hear?”

Gloria whimpered. “R-Right.”

“Now this is a perfect display of good sportsmanship! Both of these challengers have been close rivals and friends from the very start and knowing that this day would come wasn’t easy for either to accept. But, through their tearful smiles and promises to carry on for the both of them, Challenger Gloria will certainly put up a tough fight for the final tournament bracket of the Champion Cup! Please give a big round of applause for Challenger Gloria, and the runner-up, Hop!” Juliet announced cheerfully, sending the stadium into a frenzy as the two Challengers eventually picked themselves up from the ground and answered their cheers with enthusiastic waves.

* * *

The moment Hop stepped back into the waiting area, he was pulled into a crushing hug by none other than his brother. Hop chuckled weakly, quite literally having the life squeezed out of him until he took note of something that brushed his shoulder. Again. Then again. He craned his neck to see tears streaming down Leon’s face, which made alarm bells ring in his head, pulling back enough to stare in shock at his older brother’s tear stained face. He couldn’t recall ever seeing his older brother _cry_ right in front of him, or at all for that matter. “Lee?! Why are you crying?”

“Can’t you tell? I’m crying because I’m so proud of you. Even when your back was up against the wall, you kept fighting until the very end. I’ve watched countless battles and met trainers as Champion, and many of them didn’t display the determination that you did, Hop. And, I mean that.”

Hop’s jaw dropped. “R-Really…? You’re not just saying that to make me feel better…?”

“I can be passionate with encouragement, but I don’t sugarcoat when it comes to honesty, Hop. I mean it.” Leon pulled him back into a hug and patted his back. “After the Champion Cup is over, let’s have a battle. You and me.”

“For real?! Thank you, Lee! I’ve wanted to battle you for so long I-!”

“Champion Leon.” A Macro Cosmos employee interrupted. He stood by countless other employees, which alarmed Leon as to why Rose sent so many of his employees to pick him up. There was still so much he wanted to say to Hop, but it was best not to keep Chairman Rose waiting, despite him dreading the encounter more than anything. If it wasn’t his fever that made him sick, it was him just thinking about Rose that did. 

“Sorry, Hop. I better get going. But, if the meeting with the Chairman ends early and the hospital will let me, let me treat you and Gloria to dinner. I’ll text you.” Leon smiled weakly before letting himself be escorted out of the hospital as quietly and secretly as they could without causing a commotion. The public hadn’t seen Leon today or yesterday so the media were probably on their toes about his whereabouts. The feeling of suffocation returned when he sat in Rose’s private limousine and it drove off towards the Rose Tower. 

Closer and _closer…_

He didn’t get to enjoy the moment of respite and excitement of the earlier match and the car ride to the tower only prolonged his suffering. When the passenger door next to him opened for him, he sighed inwardly and pushed himself out of the car to finally face the man of the hour. 

But, what was waiting for him was more than he bargained for. 

* * *

“I guess Lee’s not taking us to dinner…” Hop grumbled, mindlessly flipping his Rotom phone around in his hand, waiting for a text from his brother, while trying to ignore his rumbling stomach. 

“Then, why don’t order room service?” Gloria suggested, setting down her Switch next to her on her bed before reaching for the menu placed conveniently beside the phone until a knock came from their door. Hop jumped off the bed and opened the door to reveal Raid Prism holding large take-out bags. 

“Oh! It’s you guys! What’s up?”

“We thought we’d stop by to ask if you two have eaten anything yet? The place we went to was doing a really good deal for the Champion Cup so we got some extra food if you two want dibs!” Vanquil beamed. 

“Nice timing! We were actually just about to order room service since it looks like Leon hasn’t texted me yet.” Hop opened the door for them and caught a whiff of the tell-tale scent of curry and spices, making his mouth water. “Curry?”

“What else? It’s a staple food of Galar after all and you two should treat yourselves! That was an amazing battle you two put on!” Tessu congratulated cheerfully, handing the two young trainers their own containers of curry and a can of lemonade. 

“Thank you!” Hop and Gloria thanked in unison, both already scarfing down the well-deserved meal after such an intense battle. For some reason, the food tasted better and more rewarding, which spurred them to each faster despite Mary’s gentle warning to slow down. Seems like battling wasn’t the only thing that the two young trainers made into a competition. 

_“Juliet, are you there?”_

Juliet nearly choked on her curry in surprise and pressed her hand to the back of her ear. “Y-Yeah. What’s going on?”

_“We have a bit of a problem.”_

Juliet’s blood ran cold and she shot up from her seat, alarming everyone in the room. “What’s wrong?”

_“I can’t seem to get a hold of Looker. The last transmission I got from him is when he reported that he would be headed to the Rose Tower to infiltrate it. But, that was more than an hour ago. His tracker isn’t showing up either.”_

The Raid leader bit her lip. “You think it might have something to do with Oleana? She was the one who put tracking devices on our old phones.”

_“That’s likely the case. Perhaps wherever Looker is in the Rose Tower, there’s a special system put in place to block out communication transmissions from the outside.”_

“Hang on,” Juliet looked at Hop. “Hop, you mentioned just now about not getting a text from Leon right?”

Hop blinked confusingly. “Yeah. He said that if his meeting with Rose ended early and the hospital let him, he’d treat Gloria and I to dinner.”

Juliet had a _really_ bad feeling and Anabel could hear it clearly in her voice especially since she came to the same conclusion as well from what she overheard. “...Well, Anabel? What do you think?”

_“Yes. I’m thinking the same thing. Rose is likely giving Leon his orders for the Darkest Day. And Oleana must have made sure that no one would be able to hear in from the outside and vice versa.”_

“What should we do about Looker then?” Juliet asked, looking out of the hotel room to see the Rose Tower, standing tall in the distance, silently mocking her to the madness that was probably transpiring right now on the top floor, where she remembered Rose’s office being when they first met when they accepted their job as co-hosts for the Gym Challenge and Champion Cup. 

_“Let’s put our trust in him for now. I’ve known him for a long time and when push comes to shove, he always finds a way out of sticky situations.”_

“I really hope you’re right, Anabel…”

* * *

“Chief? Can you hear me?” After getting no response for the 10th time, Looker clicked his tongue and tapped his foot impatiently. It was bad enough that the data he extracted from the Power Plant needed to be decrypted first, but now he was currently tasked with the grunt work that involved standing guard on some floor with Kazz stationed not too so he could at least keep an eye on him. Was security always this tight for the Rose Tower? It seemed a bit extreme considering how heavily Rotom security bots were used in the Power Plant. There was definitely _something_ happening and it tortured him knowing that he had no way of getting to the bottom of it. 

Guess there was only one way out of this…

Looker suddenly clutched his stomach and groaned in pain, alerting Kazz and other Macros Cosmos workers to his side in worry. “Ow, ow, ow! I knew I shouldn’t have eaten that week-old sandwich…”

“You ate something that was a week old?!” A Macro Cosmos employee gawked in shock. “Geez, well we can’t have you throwing up or anything! Use the washroom on the upper floor since the one on this floor is out of service. Hurry!”

“Ugh...Thank you...This guy here will help me there. Give me a hand, would you?” Looker reached out to Kazz, who leaned down to offer him his shoulder and helped him maneuver down the corridor and around the corner to the elevator. Once they arrived at the next floor above and entered the empty restroom, Looker stood upright and regained his composure.

“Thanks, Kazz. Pretty good acting, wouldn’t you say?”

Kazz looked at him quizzically before rolling his eyes, clearly not impressed by that dramatic display. 

“Well, we wouldn’t be getting any work done by just standing there.”

The Zoroark in disguise crossed his arms as if to say, ‘OK. Then, what now?’

“Good question. I think the best place we can go to get information is the security room. It’ll also give us access to all the cameras surveying the tower so we can see what’s going on in the other rooms and floors. Ugh, it’s probably already stationed by other employees so I can’t just waltz in there-”

_“Hello? Is MC Employee Liam there?”_

Looker looked down at the incoming call from the walkie talkie strapped to his belt and cleared his throat to get into his acting zone again. “Y-Yes. This is Liam speaking. Is something the matter?” 

_“We got a report that you are experiencing a case of food poisoning. Are you feeling better now?”_

“I’m feeling better than I did before but it’s a little hard to stand for too long.” That was when an idea hatched into his mind. It was a bit too on the nose for his liking, but surely if employees had the sympathy to check up on him, surely they would be...accommodating. Take the bait, take the bait take the bait-

_“Oh, in that case, we can have you switched with the security team? You’ll be sitting for the most part. The guy who’s with you too can join you so he can keep an eye on you-”_

“O-Oh, yes! That sounds great. I’ll be able to concentrate and work better that way!” Looker couldn’t believe they were falling for this absurd narrative he concocted and based on how Kazz shook his head exasperatedly, he couldn’t quite believe it either. But now wasn’t the time to complain. 

_“Alright. Then head to the security room on floor 5. You’ll be switched with the team in room 506. Make sure to report when you’re stationed there.”_

“Roger that.” Looker turned to Kazz with a cheeky grin. “Well, shall we get going?”

Kazz sighed.

* * *

“I see you’ve made it safely, Leon. How are you feeling?” Rose asked, not even bothering to turn around to address the Champion properly. Leon trudged over to Chairman Rose’s side, who’s eyes were fixated on the city lights below and beyond - a sight that stretched so far like the stars in the sky. This was a sight that Rose wanted to preserve for years to come - he didn’t want to see a single light go out. 

Yes. This was all for the future of the Galar region. He was doing a good thing. 

H̵̯̯͔̫̝̯̘̜̻͌̃͆̃͂̈͛͝͠͠e̷̢͈̫̦̯̜̦̭̝̯̗̹̣̔̉̂̐͘͝ ̴̼͓̆̈̊̓̃̌s̶̰̩̦̥͖̻̬̉͠w̵̧̛̰̫͈̞͓̉̄͊̉̃͌̿̒͝ͅo̴̙͎̬̤͍̫͎͑̈́̇̀̈́̌r̷̰̣̲̮̠̮̓̇͜ͅe̷͚̣͕͙̰̥̮̞̪͚̦͌̋̑̃̇̈̂̈͋̾̊̊͜͠ ̵̧̥̜͉̘̗̱̟͗̅̀̌͊͘ͅh̵̰̙̭̫̯͋̈́̉͊͊͋̋̔̾̾͂̚͠e̷̗͈͈͍̤͎͚̒̊͊͜͜ ̴̢̫̗͉̯̱̱̙̩͔̼͔͕̬̔̋w̸̜̪͎̱̯͋̇̇̈́̕a̴͍̪͈̫̦̓̆̿s̵̡̪̜̣͙͖͎̳̗͚̈̔̽̓̂̇͜.̷̧̳̜̻̻̬̬̪̻̯̻̹̦̒̏̍̆̌͌̋̐̍̂̃̈́̀̄͝ ̷̰͍̣̖̤̬̞̯̟̹̙̤̀͑̑͆̍̓

“I’m feeling better, Chairman. What is it that you wanted to discuss?” Leon asked hoarsely, before tensing up suddenly. That feeling was back. That feeling that crawled up his back and slithered around his body, as if his sense of energy and control were being restrained and taken away from him. That overwhelming weakness he felt when he met with Rose the other day.

Right before he collapsed. 

Rose, unfazed by Leon’s sickly appearance, continued. “Leon. We’ve discussed this a hundred times already. And still you fail to understand what’s at stake? You, who’s supposed to be our Champion-”

“I think I understand well enough. What I don’t understand is why we ought to cancel tomorrow’s tournament in order to solve a problem that’s a thousand years away from affecting any of us! What difference is one day going to make?” 

Then, the uncomfortable feeling wormed its way under his skin and it felt like his coherent thoughts were swirling out of control and becoming clouded. He couldn’t even process what was coming out of Rose’s mouth. It sounded nothing more than garbled nonsense. Leon tightened his fists and shook his head to free himself, to regain what was left of his self-control amidst the noise and voices that were pounding in his ears - all of which didn’t _sound_ like Rose at all. 

“You know exactly what’s at stake. After all, you know what it is I’m up to, don’t you, Leon? That’s why I took some... _liberties_ to make sure you don’t disobey me. I still need you, after all.”

Ȍ̴͈̫̈͋b̵̨̧̛̛̙͈͕͎̪͔̪̱̹̦͋̄͌̐̿͗̃̋͑̈́͊͠e̶̡̮͇̞̺̗̺̣̗̝̦̝̼̒͋̒ͅy̶̢͙̤̺̣̔́̆̐͂̕ ̸̧̧̼̬̹͎̣͖̭͙̗͌̊̚͜͜R̷̨̭̜̟̞̬̳̓͂̅̔̒̓͗̊̿̈͌̄͘͝͝ơ̴̡͙͓͖̄̋̽͌͗͗̊̓̚̕͝͝s̵̡̖̣̘̖̻̼̙̙̗̈́̔̉̌́̾̏͑ͅę̸͙̗̟̣̻̮̟͊̆̍͋͒̽̆.̶͓̜̼̹̭̻̩̔̆̎̒̿̅͗̚̕̚

D̸̥̝̀͊̌͑͑̆̚̚͘o̶̫̪͉̠͉̪̙̐͂ ̶̢͕̟̬̣̖͉̱̳̮̩͖͉̑̓̉͠͠į̵̫̖͖̣̩̞͇͔̆̓̉͑̀̏̃̍̓̑̋̈́͋̚͝ͅţ̷͉̠̞̳̲̰͍̯̳͖͕̞͉̑̒͒͋̄̓̚̚͝ͅ ̸̞̲̞̙͚̜̮́̓͋̀̈̓͌̐̚f̸̡̲̦͍͇̯̲̙̯̿͌͌͠o̷̮͔͚̹̫̾̑͛̅̌̿̓r̸͚͎̲̻̣̥̻̭̟̀͆͑͑̿̓̉͠͝ ̸̢̢̪̠̬̣͍̯͖̞̪̩̼̹̽͂̊̕ť̵̨̼̹͚̬͇͕̔͌̂̋̕̚͝h̷͔͎̬̰͍͌̾̅͜͝e̵̲̳͖̤̊ ̸̰̫͉̫̪͍̘̄̐̔͆́͌G̵̛̱̝͕͚̣̮̙̳̞̻̭̒̽̽͗́͌̑̅͛̎̋̓ͅa̴̦̎̎l̸̨̲̩̻̻͔̒̀̽̆̀̚͠ͅa̷̘̲̭̲͝ͅr̴̢̭̣̹̲̩̟̫͍̟̦̥̘̩͜͠ ̵̠̞̰̻̬̳̭̑̈́͂̈̈̍̈́̕r̴̦̯̰͚̬͇̥̰͈͚̟̳͌̊̎̾̊̉̏̓̍͝e̷̢̛̪͛̎̓͒̊͗̅̚͠͝g̵̨̨̝͉̣̳̖͔̖̲̺̱̓̈̒͛̅̕͝ǐ̶̢̨̧̡̘͕̪̮̼̘̿̇̔̄̄̌͗̔͛́̎͐͜͜o̷̡̬̰̦͚̩̣̣̦̖̣̓̐̍͘͝ṅ̸̢̨̛͕̫͎͚͎̦̍̄̂̄͐̿̏̈́͠.̴̫͔̣̰̾́̔̋̔͂̄͋͒̽ͅͅͅ

Y̴̡̨̻̗̟̰̭͖̯͚̙̼̭̟̍̇̐̈́̈́̔͋͐͝o̵͓̦̩̟̝̙̙̼̅ű̵̟̱̩̘̙̥̝͖͍̈̈́͘ ̶̡̢̨͔͍̭̼̗̘͙̓̂͑̊͝ả̷̧̙̗͕͈̫̻̰̖͕͇̆̎͂̏̔̍̉̇͝͠ŗ̶̠͍̮̪͖̗̺̭͙̰̗̭̂̃̂͌̅͑̓̄͆͋͛͜͝͠͝e̷͖̟͓̝̦̫̪͇̯̍͘͝ ̴̢̛̥̬̟̮̙͎͕̬t̶͈͇̄̓̌͂h̴̡͓̝̝͂̒ë̶̙̦̥̰͌̏̓̓͛̈̑ ̶̳͚̫͉͎̣̭̆A̸̹̠̋͋͂̑̽̂͊͐͜͠b̷̡̩͚̩̬̬̲̗̠͗̋̐̉̈́̌͌̓̕͝ͅs̸̜͔̺͙̦̲͍͓͇̜̀͑͛̏̊̈́̆͂̂̇̂͐ǫ̷̢̨̛͖̲̻̞̥̒͐̃͒̊̔͘̕͝ĺ̷̨͈̘̹͍̠͎̜̰͍̰̳͈͎̿̐̐̇̆̏̚̕͝ͅư̸̢̘̻̯̖͙̓̒ť̵̡̛̮̳̞̰͙̊̓̋͛̃͘ę̵̨͍̠͙͓̬̝͕̇ ̴̨̩͉̩͕̟̓̃̀͐̇̐̂͛̿̚͜K̵̜͉̎̐i̷͉̥̎̈̽̈̾̐͗̐͒͊̅̑͜n̴̻̪̻̮͖̍͐͊̈̅͌̏̈̎̀̑͋͘͝͝ģ̴̮̹̣͕̘̺͓͙͚͍̦͕͕̳͑̑̅̓.̷͉̖̼̠͛̽͆͂͐͝͝

Ý̷̥͘͝o̸̥̬͓̺͍͇̪͙̟͖̳̓̌̈́̆̊̃u̶͓͈̮͖̥̘͚̖̲͎̓̽̊̃̀̔̋͑̋͘̚ ̴̡̟̫̫͙͕̫̱̓̈́͌̈́͠h̶̢̙̟̍̈́͆̍̑͑̃͆̐̑̉͂͛͘a̴͙̭͐͒͐̾̋̈͊̇͛͊͝v̷̢̠̉̓̂̏̐͗̚͘e̶̢̧͎̹̥̖̘̼̼̯̅̏̀́̓͑̈̆̕ ̷̧̝̱͕͎͎͖̖̞̬̀̈́̌̓̕͝ḓ̸̜̳̭̹̠̳̋̒̑͋̈́͐̑̎͑̿̅́͘͝͝ư̷̟̠̈̈́̑̊t̸̬͚̭͙͇̹̯̳̠̹͖͔̉̀̉͒̄̒͂͌͛̓͐̈̌͆i̵͇͕̬͕̠̤̯̦͚̰̖̗̱̥̙͒̌̏̏̉̄̂ȩ̸̡̧̛̲͉̹̣̐̑͌̿̽̕̕s̴̞͈̹̼͇͊̇͗̎͛͆̀̃̾͒̕̚͝͝ ̴̭̜̹̺̳̘̱̲̥̔͛̇̏̔̇̿̆͗͒̚͜t̸̛̬̗̫͌̈́̑̄̆̅͂͊̒̽̉̑ͅo̴͕͛ ̸̱̠̗̇̐̓̓̎͊̃͆̆̔f̴̡̨̜͉̟̆ͅư̷̡̟̬̩̯̏̔͜l̷̡̞͕͚͈̜̝͈̮̥͙͈̟̖͌̿̏͑̈́̂͛̃̈́͗͝ͅf̶̢̲̰̲̫̹̪̖̻͜͜ȉ̷̢͈̞̻͕͉̥̥̳̓̈́l̵̞̞̣͙͙̣̘͕̲̤̄̏̍̿͛̕͝ͅͅl̵͙̖̦̣̔.̴̛̖̿̍̏̂̉͌͂̉̕

“No! I won’t! My duties as Champion is not this...this madness!” Leon thrashed about, falling to his knees and clutching his head painfully. He was stronger than this. He was the Champion of the Galar region. This wasn’t what he worked so hard to-

“Leon. Don’t fight it. Welcome it. You’ll be the strongest trainer in the world. That’s what you wanted...ī̸̙̼̬͓̓̕͝͝s̷͔̩͈̻̄͌̏ň̷̛͇̼̻̥̉̿͗̄̆͆͒͊̓͠'̸̝̮̟̹̉̋̍̉̓̇̓͑̊͊̔̋͝t̴̤̻̣̘͓̑͊̒̃͆̈̉͐̊͋͘͘͝ͅ ̷̡̲͎̖̗̭̰̰̘̺͇̠̗͇̋̽͑̑̌̇͝į̴͙̹̖͙͖̓͋̓͌͛̂̿̚͝ͅt̷̫̙̖͇̳͖̓͐͌̽̐̋͊̕?̷̨͚͈͈̖͎̫͔͒͌̋̉͜ͅ” Rose chuckled wickedly, his eyes glazing over in sickeningly red. “You’ll be the one to guide the Galar region to a future of prosperity... with Eternatus at your command!”

Ȩ̵̛̛̛̘̥̣͖͖̠̪̇̓̄̔̒̎̅͛͜͝ţ̵̠̞̜̙̟͕̪̬̩̭̩̩̔̈́̏͒͗͗̕ē̵͉̃͑̚͝r̴̢̨̧̗̟̘̻̤̣͇̟͔̳̔̿͒͒̅̅́͆̈́̃͘͝n̵̨̟͙̰̜̠͈̭͓̖͙͚̫͎͔͌a̸̰̻̯̳͙͎̹̻͎̮̞̍ț̵̡̢̮̲͍͇̣̪͙̝̭̱̑̿̈́͐̄͗̔͋̎͘͝ŭ̴̜̳͝ś̵͓̪̮͕̼̳̮̮̯̭͋̚͠.̶̡̥̗͖̪̼͇̼͙͂͆͌̇̕̚͜͜͝

Ȩ̵̛̛̛̘̥̣͖͖̠̪̇̓̄̔̒̎̅͛͜͝ţ̵̠̞̜̙̟͕̪̬̩̭̩̩̔̈́̏͒͗͗̕ē̵͉̃͑̚͝r̴̢̨̧̗̟̘̻̤̣͇̟͔̳̔̿͒͒̅̅́͆̈́̃͘͝n̵̨̟͙̰̜̠͈̭͓̖͙͚̫͎͔͌a̸̰̻̯̳͙͎̹̻͎̮̞̍ț̵̡̢̮̲͍͇̣̪͙̝̭̱̑̿̈́͐̄͗̔͋̎͘͝ŭ̴̜̳͝ś̵͓̪̮͕̼̳̮̮̯̭͋̚͠.̶̡̥̗͖̪̼͇̼͙͂͆͌̇̕̚͜͜͝

**E̷̢̛͔̫͙͈̻͆̎́̄̒͒̔͘T̴̳̲̣̲͍̹́̄͜E̶̢̢̺͚̦̼̼̮̰̟͑̍̀͐̈́̌̓̄̉̍̋̆͘͜͜R̶͖̣͕͌̀̽̾͊̾̌̊͘͝͝Ṇ̷̯̗̜̬̲̥̩̮͓̼̬̈̃̓͒̏͗͝A̴̡̡̧̜̳̳̣͍̖͎̙̣̫̒͗̉͐̊̂͑͆̓ͅT̸̡̛̝̰̝͍͈̗̬̗̫̱͋̈́̒̄̈́͜Ų̸̙̘̞̙͚̥̮̣̞͐͌̽͂́́̕͘͜ͅS̵̬͋́̈̀̏́̑͛͛͗͒̒̾͘͜͝.̸̨̡̳̦̝̟̰͎͖̮̗̗̟͉̑͜**

Leon writhed on the ground in pain and cried out in pain. For help, for anything! Anyone! Hop, his mom, Raihan, Sonia-

_Juliet._

...

And he got exactly what he wanted. 

But, not in the way he would have expected. Rose shook his head with disappointment at the lack of obedience, making him grab what appeared to be a golden royal crown encrusted with rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and every gemstone that was out there. But the gemstone that shone the brightest of them all, was the glowing red gemstone in the front of the crown. 

“Don’t worry, Leon...You won’t feel any more pain. So...accept your duty as…” Once the crown had been set on top of Leon’s head, his eyes widened momentarily before fluttering closed and his body grew still. “ **G̵̣̪͆̈́̓͌͊̊͂̇͒͝ạ̶̙̰͖̳̜̤̫̻̤̯̰̞͂̅͂͌̋̍̈͌̅́̓̕͘͜͝ļ̷̬̘̲̫̭̲̠̯̟͉͕̏͐͐̃̈́͌̆̓͋̐̚ͅą̴͕̱̹̠̀̅͘r̴̡̧͈̯̘͔̣̬͚͚͔͉͔̭͆̀́̋̐́͂'̶̨̲͎̯̺̻̱́͒̍̌͌̾̀̐̇͛͗͝s̷̛͍̺̽̑͋̓̃̓̂͊̄̚̕͝ ̵̛̥͍͙͚͖̭̫̙͉̝̭͐͑́̌̐̚͠Ã̵̧̛͙̙̪̘͙̻͙̠̹̫̿̈́͗̽̓̀̒̚͠͝b̸̧̢̬̻͓̞͈̻̞̥͔̯́s̴̨͇͔̺̤̻̤̿̒o̴̢̭̬̦̲̱͔̟͈͔̓͌͌̌͊̍͘l̶̢̬͉̞͖̹͖̦̩̘̼̼̈́͒̈́͒̓̍͋́̌͜u̸͇̝̤̣͓͋͌͂̚̚t̸̛̻͔̺̥̋̾̿͛̔̈͂̅̓͂̌͘͠ͅe̷̤̣̓̒̽̇͛̉̌̈́̉͠ ̵̡̧̭͕͙͕̲̰̜̖͎̠̮̓̔̃͊̋͂ͅK̷̡͍̲̼̯̦̟̲̠̺͍̠͙̅͌͊̊͂̈́̅̿͌͒͜͠ḯ̴̛͙̘̄̑́̀̄̈̉̍̉̄n̶̨̡͔̱̰̲̘͇̮̼̦̏g̵̨͍̗͛̾͐̎͛̒́͆͋̾͂̉̚.̶̨̢̛̰̱̙̘̟̳̜̦̔̈́̽͒̕͘̕͠͠ͅͅ”**

Rose turned to Oleana, who had been watching silently, stoically, from a distance, who nodded at him knowingly and pulled out her phone. 

“Hello? This is Oleana. Chairman Rose kindly asks that Leon be discharged from the hospital. There’s no need to check on him. We have it taken care of from here.”

“Oh, and Oleana? Make sure to get rid of any...Rattatas that snuck in.” Rose ordered coldly before lifting up the unconscious Champion from under his arms and handing him over to his agents.

“Yes, Chairman.”

* * *

Anabel paced around anxiously in her hotel room. There was absolutely nothing from Looker. No calls, no messages, no…anything! Where in the world was he?! There was no way he could have been caught...right? It was absolutely torturous, being at the centre of communication while everyone else was running the Champion’s Cup, pretending that nothing was wrong even though today was the dreaded day. Nothing felt right anymore. There were too many unknowns and hitches that propped up in their plan that made them all anxious.

It started with Looker and Kazz’s seemingly disappearance.

....And now, Leon was nowhere to be found. In place of Leon who was supposed to kick off the final tournament before the long-awaited Champion match, was Chairman Rose, who looked too jovial and excited for someone who was about to unleash _hell_ upon the Galar region. He definitely had something to do with Leon’s disappearance. It didn’t take a genius to assume that something was very wrong when Leon had left to see Rose, and now no one heard from him since. 

Still, Anabel still believed in Looker. They’ve gone on so many missions together and been through their fair share of close calls - he was surely OK. He had to be. 

Holding on to that shred of hope and faith was what made the uncertainty bearable. 

_“Any word from Looker yet?”_

“No...nothing. How is everything at the Champion Cup, Juliet?”

_“Just about what you’re seeing on TV. Gloria has secured her match with Leon but...no one knows where he is.”_

Anabel couldn’t take it anymore. She had to do something. “I’m going to look for them.”

_“Wha-Wait! Do you even know where to look?”_

“Leon, Looker, and Kazz were all headed to the Rose Tower so I’m certain that’s where they are now. I’m acting out of concern for their safety so...I’m going to take drastic measures. Please act in my place for the meantime.”

_“...Alright. I doubt I could convince you otherwise once you’ve set your mind on something. Just...be careful. We can’t not know where you are too.”_

“Don’t worry. I have Raikou and Entei by my side. I’m sure I can manage.” Anabel ended the call and opened up her briefcase where the aforementioned Pokemon slept in their Pokeballs. She prayed that it would never get to this point, but she would never forgive herself if something bad happened to Looker while she remained idle, oblivious to his potential suffering. 

Her emotions took over her reason. Reasons that involved putting her job before emotions. Not when the people she cared about could be in danger. 

“It’s go time, you two.”

* * *

“Ugh...I can’t believe they figured me out that easily...Chief is not going to like this…” Looker muttered to himself. He couldn’t remember the last time he got caught on a mission, or be held prisoner no less. But, he definitely wasn’t expecting his so-called prison cell to be as cozy and clean as it was. It probably hadn’t even been used at all, considering how loyal and obedient Macros Cosmos employees were. They wouldn’t dare defy Rose or his secretary Oleana. Just thinking about his encounter with the woman sent a nervous chill down his spine. He never thought a woman so stoic was capable of looking so _furious_. 

“I sure hope Kazz is alright...He somehow managed to get away in the kerfuffle-”

As if to answer his prayers, he suddenly heard shouts of protest, followed by growls and attacks being unleashed, which grew louder and louder until the door to his cell got blasted into pieces. He watched with his jaw dropped as Anabel emerged from the smoke with Raikou and Entei trailing behind her, along with Kazz, who had long discarded the Macros Cosmos disguise. “Chief?! How did you-”

“I had a feeling you were in a bind so I came looking for you. It wasn’t easy with how big this place is but luckily Kazz here had shifted back and forth between other Pokemon and workers so he wasn’t caught until he found me entering the place.”

Looker gaped at the damage she caused, both in his cell and the path of chaos she left behind to get to him. She did more than just _enter,_ and he never expected her to take such bold measures for his sake. Calm and collected as she always was, now fierce and angry. Yeah, he was certainly glad that she was on their side especially with her loyal legendaries at her beck and call. 

Anabel tossed him his Pokeballs containing Growlithe and Croagunk that were taken from him, along with the USB drive that he kept all his data on. “Missing some things?”

“Y-Yeah. Thanks, Chief.”

“Count yourself lucky. They probably didn’t have time to erase anything if they didn’t bother to get rid of the device all together. We got what we need so we need to get out of here _now_ and head to Hammerlocke. I couldn’t find Leon here anywhere so the only place he’d be is at the Power Plant.” Anabel returned her Raikou and gave the Pokeball to Kazz. “Return to Wyndon Stadium and give this to Juliet.”

* * *

“I’m really worried about Kazz…” Mary sniffled. She had never been apart from her Pokemon for this long, and not knowing where he was, was eating away at her slowly. Juliet shook her knee anxiously, constantly putting her hand behind her ear every few seconds for some sort of transmission back from Anabel to get an update on where she was, what was going on - all the while patting her friend’s back comfortingly through her endless worrying. 

_“Juliet?! Can you hear me?”_

Juliet practically leaped into the air upon hearing Anabel’s voice, on top of feeling intense relief. “Anabel?! Did you find them?!”

_“Don’t worry! Looker and Kazz are safe and sound but I couldn’t find Leon anywhere! Looker and I are headed to Hammerlocke now! Kazz is on his way and I’m entrusting you with Raikou in case you need him!”_

“Oh my god. It’s really happening isn’t it-” Juliet trembled in fear. It was happening all too quickly for her to process-

_“Focus, Juliet! I know, everything is happening all at once but we’re going to get through this together!”_

“Right! Should we get-” Suddenly, the whole stadium shook, throwing everyone off their feet until the tremors slowly settled. Luckily it wasn’t a big enough earthquake to cause any substantial damage, but when Juliet and Mary collected themselves, many chairs were knocked off and there were papers strewn about in the break room. Tessu and Vanquil, who had left for a moment to get them all drinks, barged into the break room where they pulled both Juliet and Mary to their feets. 

“Are you two, OK?!” Tessu asked, looking them over quickly for any obvious signs of injuries.

“We’re fine but-”

“You guys!! Come quick!” Phil shouted, his face twisted in horror as they followed him back to the broadcast room. All of the air in their lungs left them, the scene before them striking a raw kind of fear that one would get from facing their absolute nightmare. Nothing had prepared them for how catastrophic the situation would turn. 

On the giant screen, displayed Rose in all his glory, in front of what Juliet recognized to be the Power Plant. Despite the flashing red lights going off behind him, Rose was somehow as composed as ever, like all he was about to deliver was the weather. 

“Hello, dear citizens of Galar. I sincerely apologize for that small tremor that happened just now. You see, for these past ten years, I’ve worked hard to discover an energy source to keep our beloved region thriving for generations to come. But, as with anything, nothing lasts forever. Or so, I thought. To put it simply, I’ve discovered a Pokemon that could give Galar just what it needs to keep flourishing. And it just so happens that this Pokemon is responsible for the Darkest Day.”

“What?!”

“The Darkest Day?!”

Juliet gritted her teeth and pressed her hand behind her ear. “Everyone, get in your positions, now! ”

_“Right!”_

* * *

_“Anabel, what’s happening on your side?!”_

“We’re approaching Hammerlocke Stadium and it looks like something is charging up at the top of the castle!” Anabel huffed, holding onto her Entei for dear life with Looker clutching her waist from behind as the legendary Pokemon pushed through to the elevator of the Power Plant. Once the elevator stopped, Entei charged past countless guards and employees, before busting down the door to the hangar with Flamethrower. 

“Chairman Rose, I’m placing you under arrest!” Anabel theatenened, reaching into the inner pocket of her blazer to pull out her International Police ID. Rose sighed, not fazed by the threat at all and merely looked at the agent as just another obstacle in his plan. 

In his mind, it was rude to interrupt when someone was speaking.

“Oh? For what? For protecting my region?”

“You must be _mad_ if you think causing a catastrophe that is going to endanger countless lives, as protection.” Anabel seethed through her teeth. “Do you want me to go on and list all the other charges with everyone watching? Or shall we settle this peacefully?”

“I’m afraid I don’t have time for either option. Besides, you’re too late. Even if you arrest me now, it can’t stop what has already begun.” Rose mocked menacingly, snapping his fingers to switch the shot from him, to the indescribable horror that was transpiring on the roof of Hammerlocke Castle. 

“Don’t fear, citizens of Galar! We have the Darkest Day under control. There’s only one person in the world who can lead this region into an era of eternal peace and prosperity. Please, bow down to your new ruler - **The Absolute King, Leon!”**

* * *

No...No, it couldn’t be...This...This wasn’t real. Juliet wasn’t staring at Leon, in a full suit of armor with a bejeweled crown on his head, with his eyes, sinister bright red, instead of his warm gold that put her heart at ease. This wasn’t Leon. There was no way. But...no matter how many times she pinched herself or how she rubbed her eyes in denial, it didn’t change what was happening on that screen. Her disbelief eventually morphed into absolute rage. 

How dare _he._

How dare Rose **_use_ ** him like this?

It was unfair. 

**_It was sick._ **

“Well, Leon? Anything you’d like to say to your loyal subjects?” Rose taunted from off screen. Leon didn’t say a single word, his eyes devoid of any emotion at all, as he raised his hand into the air, commanding Eternatus to unleash a barrage of red lights that streaked across the sky, which landed on unsuspecting Pokemon that then, grew in sizes and thrashed about violently.

Then, beams of light exploded from the centre of all the stadiums and Power Spots across the Galar region, causing more Pokemon to Dynamax and wreak havoc with no sense of self-control left within them. 

But, it was too soon to give up. Not after all the planning they did to get this far.

Juliet pushed passed Phil to reach for her mic. “Everyone, please evacuate the stadium immediately! Look for the people holding bright yellow glow sticks! They’ll guide you to safety! As for everyone at home, please evacuate your homes and follow your Gym Leader’s instructions so they can direct you to safe zones! Do not stay in your homes!” She turned to Phil and shoved the mic into his chest, who was already struggling with composing himself from the shock of everything that was happening. “Phil, repeat that warning over and over for me!”

“I-But…Right!” Phil agreed shakily.

Juliet looked out to see her team with their entire team of Pokemon out to help with the evacuation orders. But, it was taking longer than she would have liked. She hissed impatiently, storming over to her bag and pulling out bundles of yellow glow sticks and handed them to staff members, who were just standing there, gobsmacked, and not doing anything to help. “Don’t just stand there with your jaws on the floor! Pick them up and help with the evacuation!”

“But, Rose-”

Juliet growled and slammed her feet on the ground. Were they seriously still questioning Rose after all that they saw?! What kind of blind loyalty were they playing at?! It only confirmed her earlier skepticism that no one would have believed her on what she saw, if they still didn’t believe what was happening in front of their very eyes. She didn’t mean to be rough, but at this point, she wasn’t going to put up with any more compliance towards Rose. She grabbed the collar of an employee and got up in his face. “You saw with your own eyes of what his true intentions are. And you still want to ask questions?! Everyone’s lives are in danger now because of him. This region - this world - doesn’t belong to him! We are all responsible for leading the world!!”

She released her grip and dashed out of the stadium with her hand pressed up to her ear. “Everyone, status reports!”

 _“We’re in a bit of trouble in Stow-on-Side! A Dynamax Pokemon appeared from Glimwood Tangle and is headed towards us!”_ Bea reported. 

“Then Opal, Bede, before you head to Ballonlea, help out Bea and Allister in subduing the Dynamax Pokemon!” 

_“Understood!”_

_“Jules! Everyone in Wyndon Stadium has been safely evacuated and it looks like Macros Cosmos employees who were working at the stadium have taken over the proceedings there for the rest of the city!”_ Vanquil interjected. 

Juliet sighed in relief. Looks like her tantrum from earlier was enough to snap them out of it. If they could get help from the rest of the corporation from Rose Tower, then Wyndon would be well taken care of for the time being. “Good! In that case, you, Tessu, and Mary, head to the Wild Area and release what we recorded on Pokegram!”

_“What about the part you recorded?”_

“Leave that to my uncle! For now, just release what we recorded! By the time you guys get to the Wild Area, hopefully other trainers will be there to help! It’s going to be the area that will be hit the hardest from how many Power Spots there are! I’m going to Hammerlocke first so I’ll catch up to you guys in a bit!”

 _“To Hammerlocke?! You’re not going to face off against Leon, are you?! Wouldn’t it be better if Hop and Gloria go because they have the rusted sword and shield?! Surely Zacien and Zamazenta will help us now!”_ Tessu shouted. 

_“Ummm...about that…”_ Hop trailed off, forebodingly. 

_“We can’t seem to find them anywhere!”_ Gloria cried out. 

_“What do you mean you can’t find them anywhere?!”_

_“They were with us just a second ago and we should be the only one who should be able to wield them but-”_

_“...! Hey! That’s ours! Give it back!”_ Hop could be heard shouting before his transmission got cut off. 

_“Ugh...What a bunch of troublesome lads...Marnie and I caught sight of Hop and Gloria chasin’ down some shady folks and Pokemon so, we’re gonna lend them a hand.”_ Piers reported annoyingly. _“Don’t worry about Spikemuth. There aren’t any Power Spots near the place so it should be relatively safe for now.”_

On the other end, Juliet heard what sounded like a car drifting to a halt, followed by Sonia’s voice to beckon Piers and Marnie into her car, where Gloria and Hop were already inside. _“...Are we even going to fit in there?”_

 _“It’ll be a tight squeeze but come on, we don’t have much time!”_ She heard Sonia say, followed by Piers’ mutterings of ‘what a pain’.

Juliet hung her head sluggishly. Her heart wouldn’t be able to take anymore adrenaline and stress at this rate. “Thank, Arceus. We’re counting on you guys to get the artifacts back! I’ll try to hold off Leon in the meantime for now. He’s commanding Eternatus to cause Pokemon to Dynamax after all!”

 _“Juliet, please don’t hurt my brother!”_ Hop called in

“Don’t worry! I’m going to try to wear him down in hopes it doesn’t get to a point where I have to get physical with him.”

“Jules, wait!” Mary called after her with Kazz safely back at her side. “Kazz has something to give you!” 

The Zoroark handed her a Pokeball. Ahh, right. This must be why Anabel entrusted her with her Raikou. Juliet took the Pokeball from his claws and sent out the legendary beast who turned to her trustingly. He lowered himself enough so she could climb on to his back. Juliet turned to Mary and gestured to her to hop on as well. “Vanquil and Tessu already got a head start, right? It’ll be a lot quicker if you hitch a ride too.”

“O-OK!” Mary returned Kazz back into his Pokeball and sat behind her best friend. It felt...surreal sitting on the back of one of the legendary beasts, but they could practically feel the electrical flow crackling around them. 

“Juliet!”

Juliet whipped her head around, stunned to see Holly running over to them with a frightened look on her face. She jumped off of Raikou for a moment to address the fear-striken woman, who clutched onto her arms desperately with watering eyes. Arceus, Juliet could only imagine what Leon and Hop’s mom was going through right now. It was already tough to watch over her bed-ridden eldest, and now to see him being turned into this? As a mother, she was probably blaming herself for what happened and wracking her mind over what she could have done to prevent the situation from getting to this point. 

“Please...Let me come with you.” Holly pleaded. 

“Holly...That’s not a good idea. It’s going to be dangerous and-”

“But, Leon! And Hop too! Both of them have suffered in different ways this past year and I want to be there for them when they need it the most!” Holly broke down into tears as she buried her face into Juliet’s shoulder, whispering apologies to both Leon and Hop over and over, and chasizing herself for not being a good mother. There was no way Juliet could take her to where Leon was in such a despaired state. Which is why she took a deep breath and looked at the woman seriously. 

“I understand how you feel, Holly, but please, don’t blame yourself for all this. We all thought Rose was smart enough, sane enough, to make the right decisions for everyone. He made fools of us, but not anymore. Leave everything to us and hurry to safety. I’m going to save Leon, I promise.”

Holly sniffled. “Are you sure?”

“120%. I’ll make sure he returns safely so you can scold him for worrying you so much.” Juliet ended light-heartedly, hoping that it was enough to shine a light in what looked like darkness for Holly. Slowly, Holly pulled away but not before clasping both of Juliet’s hands in her own, hands shaking uncontrollably. 

“Please...save my son.”

“I will.” Juliet gave Holly one more hug before settling herself on Raikou’s back once more. 

“Hang on tight, Mary! Take us to Hammerlocke, Raikou!” After letting out a mighty roar, Raikou took off at a breakneck pace, making the two riders clutch onto his back and mane for dear life. Juliet managed to fish out her uncle’s phone from her bag and brought the receiver up to her mouth. 

“Uncle! Release what I sent you!”

* * *

_“Breaking News! An unknown Pokemon has been sighted atop Hammerlocke Castle shortly after Chairman Rose reportedly confesses to bringing about the Darkest Day, a devastating event that nearly wiped the Galar region 3000 years ago, as a means to prolong Galar’s energy supply indefinitely. We’re reporting to you live from Galar where evacuation measures are in order by all the Galar Gym Leaders, along with Raid Prism who are a well-known group of trainers that specialize in-”_

“...! Brendan, isn’t that!” May exclaimed, shooting up from her seat in disbelief. Brendan, who was in the middle of nibbling on a Lava Cookie, turned his head to the TV, and nearly choked on the pastry. How many years had it been since he last talked to her, or even saw her face? He could still remember their last meeting like it happened yesterday, where he took her title as Champion, but rather than her being upset by it, she looked...relieved. Like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulder. And then she gave him her Mega bracelet and Swampertite, and he had never heard from her again since. But, he still kept them - just in case he saw her again. He’d like to think they were friends at one point, back when they first met at a Pokemon camp along with May. 

So, he couldn’t believe that the person who was riding on the back of a Raikou was her. 

“..What’s Juliet doing in Galar? If she’s involved with what’s going on, then-”

“Then, she needs our help! What’s happening over there looks really bad!”

“Yeah...I agree, May. But, hang on! I need to look for something first!” Brendan pushed out of his seat and clambered up stairs to his room where all May could hear were drawers opening and closing and things being tossed around his room and rolling to the floor. 

“He really should be more organized…” May muttered to herself. She turned her attention back to the TV, where they were now showing footage of what had been posted on Raid Prism’s Pokegram account before switching abruptly to footage of Juliet talking by herself. No, she was talking directly to the camera. May grabbed the remote on the dining table to turn up the volume, just loud enough so Brendan could hear from above as well. 

_“To everyone from all the other regions who are watching what’s happening to the Galar region, I have a big favour to ask of you. I know I’m just another trainer, and it’s not like anyone out there owes a stranger like me anything but, even so - I humbly ask for your help. Some of us, especially me, weren’t completely oblivious with what Chairman Rose was capable of, but knowing how corrupt the system is, how those with power and money like him could spin any narrative to their favour - we didn’t know if anyone out there would believe what we saw; what I saw. I could lament the things that I did wrong, but I’m done with running away and turning a blind eye. I refuse to be bossed around and looked down upon by people who abuse their position to do whatever they want. No one should ever have to feel that way. No one is truly powerless because we all share the responsibility of protecting our world, and each other.”_

* * *

_“And right now, the one person who needs our help more than anything is someone you all know very well and look up to. And he’s standing on top of Hammerlocke Castle, all alone and suffering at the hands of someone who used him. Champions aren’t invincible people - they aren’t super humans. They’re just like you and me - people. They’re carrying so many of our burdens so we can keep going about our lives with ease, but what about them? Who’s shouldering their burdens?”_

Kukui and Burnet watched the program, accompanied by Selene, Elio, Hau, Gladion, and Lillie, who had joined them for their usual weekly dinner get-togethers, with widened eyes in recognition of the Pokemon trainer on screen. A Greninja, Alolan Ninetales, and an Oricorio, who had been keeping an eye on little Lei and helping feed him, scrambled to the front of the TV with worry. They too, knew who the trainer on the screen was. She had tasked them to stay in Alola to help Professor Kukui and Professor Burnet to take care of their newborn son Lei, seeing as it’d be hard for the busy professors, and new parents, to balance their work life on top of caring for their child. It had been a year since they last saw her and they’ve always anticipated her eventual visit, but they certainly didn’t expect to see her on TV, pouring her heart out to the world. 

She needed their help, but they weren’t there by her side to give it to her. 

“Ah! Flora, don’t claw at the TV like that!” Selene scolded lightly, getting out of her seat to calm down the Alolan Ninetales. Soleil, the Oricorio, couldn’t help but throw a bit of a fit, flailing her pom pom wings around in panic, all the while Felix, the Greninja, was the only one who seemed to keep his cool. 

Elio cautiously approached the frantic Oricorio and gently stroked her head to calm her down. “Easy there, Soleil. It’s going to be OK. Do you know that trainer?”

“That’s the trainer that those three belong to. Before all of you went on your adventure, Juliet had stayed in Alola for a while to train at the Battle Tree and she even took care of a Rowlet that had yet to be picked by a trainer. I wonder how he’s doing now…” Professor Kukui mused to himself. “But, in any case, it looks Galar is in a bit of pickle and I can’t sit back knowing that all those Pokemon and people are in trouble-”

“Then, we’ll go to Galar!” Hau announced, jumping out of his seat.

“We are?” Gladion and Lillie blinked.

“Of course we are! It’s just like Professor Kukui said - it wouldn’t be right for us to stand idly when someone needs our help! And I’m sure those three want to see their trainer again! Isn’t that right?”

Flora bowed her head respectfully, Soleil nodded eagerly, and Felix was already making his way to the front door. There was no denying Hau’s infectious energy and enthusiasm, which is why all the young trainers practically _inhaled_ what they could of their dinner before grabbing their belongings and heading out the door-

That was until Lei started to wail uncontrollably. 

“Oh, Lei…” Burnet picked up her son, cooing him gently. “Shhh...it’s OK. They’ll be back soon.“

Selene approached Lei with a gentle smile. “Be a good boy while we’re gone OK?”

“Yeah! We’re going off to be heroes so be sure to cheer us on at home, Lei.” Elio added, patting the baby boy’s head. 

Even though Lei couldn’t understand what was being asked of him, their earnest smiles put him at ease and he snuggled deeper into Burnet’s chest, his sniffling gradually subsiding. Burnet let out a sigh of relief and patted all of their shoulders.

“Thank you for going on behalf of Kukui and I. I’m sure Juliet will greatly appreciate your help.”

“No need to thank us, Professors. We want to make sure that the both of you and Lei are safe.” Lillie reassured.

“Are you sure you want to come too, Lillie? I don’t want mother to worry for both of us…” Gladion noted worryingly. 

“Hey, I may not have as many Pokemon as you, but I want to look out for you too.”

Her brother sighed in defeat. “Alright. Just stick close to me, OK?”

“He-e-y!!! Are you guys comin’ or not? Galar isn’t going to save itself, you know!!” Hau howled from outside. 

* * *

Juliet’s words stretched far and wide, instilling hope and courage with words that many didn’t have the guts to say themselves. Trainers, Gym Leaders, Elite Four, Champions, and everyone in between tuned in to listen to her fervent calls for action and assistance.

In Kalos…

“ _These Champions need our help just as much as we need them. Needing help is not something that’s just exclusive to a certain group of people.”_

In Unova…

_“You might be thinking that the problems happening in one region are issues outside of everyone else in the world, but is that really the kind of message you want to send to future generations?”_

In Sinnoh…

_“Everything we do, affects everyone else one way or another. And the things we do affect the Pokemon, the creatures that we love so dearly, and they’re counting on us to make this a world that we can continue to co-exist peacefully in.”_

In Hoenn…

_“I know there might be so many people out there who feel like they're not strong enough to fight, or that the things they do won’t make a difference. But they can, and they will.”_

In Johto…

_“If you love something enough, and there’s something or someone you want to protect, you already have that spark inside you. Everyone on this planet has something special inside of them that’s waiting to come out!”_

In Kanto…

_“I love this planet more than anything, and I’ll always be thankful that I got to live in this amazing world, but it’s up to each of us to keep it that way so our children can know the joys of living too!”_

And all the smaller regions in between…

_“No one is truly alone in this world. There’s someone out there, who shares the same pain as you do. Which is why now more than ever, we need to extend our hands towards each other, so we can walk side-by-side and make sure that everyone can wake up to a brighter tomorrow!”_

* * *

“Thanks Raikou, but I can take things from here. You better go help out Anabel and Looker down below.” Juliet urged the legendary beast as she got off of him. Raikou took one last look at her before leaping down below to rejoin his trainer in the depths of Hammerlocke Castle. Even though the wind was picking up the higher she climbed, she readied herself for the inevitable encounter at the top. What exactly was she even planning on doing? It wasn’t like she had time to prepare for this. She was probably making another stupid mistake of coming here on her own. 

But...she didn’t want to leave Leon suffering alone any longer. The way he looked at her desperately when he clutched her hand back in the ambulance - he was crying for help. She had never seen someone in such agony before, and to have it escalate to this point? He of all people didn’t deserve any of it. He didn’t deserve the way people obsessively idolized him, he didn’t deserve doings things that only benefited others-

He…

He didn’t deserve being alone at the very top. 

Juliet shielded her eyes as she finally reached the top, where Leon was standing in the very center with his back turned to her. He must not have noticed her, as he raised his arm once more to order Eternatus to dish out more blasts of Dynamax energy across the region. 

Juliet gritted her teeth and sent out her Swampert, Hajime. “Hajime, use Hydro Cannon!”

Hajime reeled himself and released a heavy stream of water directly at Eternatus, effectively stopping it from charging up its attack. The creature turned in Juliet’s direction and let out a screech that made her ears ring. Leon, too, turned around to face her and he stared her down with such animosity that could convince anyone that he wasn’t human anymore. But, the real Leon was in there somewhere, screaming and shouting to be let go - to be free. 

In the back of her mind, she wondered if the power of love and friendship could get through to him, like it always had for all the stories she watched and played. It sounded foolish, but there was nothing to lose from trying. She would try anything to make him return to his senses. 

“You know, we were supposed to have a battle again some day, remember? I just...I just never thought it’d be like this.”

Leon didn’t say a word.

“Leon? Or, would you like to call me ‘your majesty’ instead with that get-up you got going on?”

Not even a laugh or smile.

Just _dead_ , _cold_ eyes, and his lips pursed into a tight line. 

Juliet sighed heavily. “I guess that’s it then. Even when you’re possessed, you’d rather settle things through a battle, huh?” She took a deep breath and sent out the rest of her team, who stood before her and glared up at the Pokemon floating in the sickening cloudy sky. 

“I challenge you to a battle, Absolute King Leon.”

* * *

**Chapter 19: You are Challenged by the Absolute King Leon**

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH FINALLY THE REVEAL!! I'm so excited to finally post this chapter since it made me the most hyped and was actually the reason that made me want to write a full-fledged fanfic for SWSH!
> 
> I hope you'll look forward to next week's update! As always, thanks for reading this chapter and feel free to leave a kudos and or comment if you'd like!


	26. Anyone can be a Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one is ever alone.

**Chapter 20 - Anyone can be a Hero**

****

* * *

_“_ _Dear passengers, due to the unexpected situation occurring in the Galar region, we are redirecting the plane to the Kalos region. We are sorry for the inconvenience and will-”_

“What’s happening?”

“Look! The whole region is shrouded in darkness and there’s some sort of Pokemon at the top of Hammerlocke stadium!”

“Eh?! Can you even call that a _Pokemon?_ ”

Matthew watched in horror at the sheer chaos that was spreading across the Galar region. Homes were being destroyed, Pokemon were thrashing about uncontrollably - it was naive to hope that there were no casualties. And he certainly hoped that Juliet wasn’t among them. What were they going to do now? If all planes and ships were being diverted from the Galar region, how were they going to get there now? The closer the plane descended into Kalos, the more anxious he became and the more his knee shook out of nervous habit. Dr. Fennel had to put her hand on his knee to calm him down.

“Matthew, relax. We’ll find another way-”

“But, I can’t relax knowing that Juliet might be in danger!”

“I know but, you’re gonna end up doing something reckless the more you worry.”

Matthew’s shoulders slumped. “You’re right, but I just feel so helpless…”

“Let’s talk it out outside. Being in this stuffy plane is just going to suffocate you even more.” Dr. Fennel urged him out of his seat, seeing as he had the seat next to the aisle, and he eventually pulled himself up before grabbing their belongings from the overhead luggage compartment, and exiting off of the plane and into the packed terminal. It seemed like a lot of people were looking to travel to Galar to sightsee, based on how many of them had cameras strapped around their necks and how they were carrying around what looked to be rolled up sleeping bags and tents. No one was happy at all by the turn of events, more concerned about their ‘ruined’ vacation than whether the citizens of the region they were trying to visit were even OK. 

It only worsened Matthew’s paranoia. 

“Ugh, it’s even more crowded here than it was on the plane. Let’s go get a coffee or something.” Dr. Fennel turned her head to the Sawsbuck Cafe, only to be taken aback by the long queue that stretched across the terminal. So much for caffeine to get them energized again. “On second thought…”

“Hey, who’s that on screen? Weren’t they just showing the news just now?”

Suddenly the airport buzzed with activity and everyone simultaneously pulled out their phones or ran over to the giant screens that were displayed all over the terminal. Everyone’s phone, and the screens, showed the same video. The video of Juliet reaching out to everyone across the world. 

_“To everyone from all the other regions who are watching what’s happening to the Galar region, I have a big favour to ask of you. I know I’m just another trainer, and it’s not like anyone out there owes a stranger like me anything but, even so - I humbly ask for your help.”_

“Our help? Why does she need our help? What’s happening in the Galar region is none of our business-”

“Yeah, seriously! Someone should be helping _us_ get our money back.”

Matthew was struck with a sudden sense of deja vu. Why did this situation...feel so familiar? He didn’t know why but, hearing his sister asking for help and witnessing people turning a blind eye, it made him feel...angry? Or, maybe sympathetic? Why was he feeling those things?

Oh.

Right. 

This...this was what his sister must have gone through, all those years ago. Even though he was studying abroad when she was Champion, he couldn’t tune out the vile things people were saying about her. And for what reason? Just because she was able to do something so accomplishing at her age, and with only three Pokemon at her disposal? Why did people always have to find a reason to doubt other people’s credibility? It was _childish_ and _petty_. 

And now, they’re doing the exact same thing - they were doubting Juliet’s fear, her struggles, her _vulnerability._

But, unlike last time, he wasn’t going to stand back and watch them say whatever they wanted. He couldn’t exactly vouch for her completely since he didn’t even know the kind of person she became. But, if she was willing to cast aside her pride, bear her soul to the world, and request something that everyone has asked for at least once in their life? Who was he to deny her cry for help?

“Just shut up and listen to her! Can’t you see the state that Galar is in? People are probably dead and injured - and yet all you can think about is yourselves?!” Matthew shouted, loud enough that many people turned their heads in his direction. His shout drew the attention of one of the tourists who had said the earlier comment and he came right up to Matthew’s face with hostility. 

“What did you say, nerd? Who do you think you are?”

“I think, no, I believe I’m someone who cares more about the well-being of others, unlike you.”

“Huh?! Are you trying to pick a fight?!”

“Matthew, please-” Dr. Fennel tried to interject but he held his arm out to block her from getting any closer. 

“Look, if the situation grows even more dire, there won’t even be a Galar to go to anymore! Think about the people, the Pokemon - all the things that make up the culture that make the region what it is. This goes for all the regions around the world. The reason they are what they are, is because of us! Each of us play a part in making the world as lively and diverse as it is! Would you be able to _live_ with yourselves knowing that you could have done something, but didn’t? You’re better than that. We’re better than that.”

“Yeah, you tell ‘em!”

Matthew turned his head to a rather large teenager, wearing a Vanillite t-shirt, making his way towards him and stood right next to him. He noticed that a few other teenagers, who must have been friends with him, had crowded around him too in some sort of circle of support. 

“I don’t think it’s fair to just ignore someone’s cry for help, even if you don’t know them! Everyone gets in a bind once in a while, and you wouldn’t want someone to turn away from helping you, right?” Tierno added, beaming wide and putting his hands on his hips. “I don’t know who that lady on the screen was, but the things she said struck a chord with me and I feel like I could bust out another dance routine right now!”

“Tierno, you just got back from your tour so maybe save it for later?” Trevor suggested sheepishly. “But, you’re right. This world isn’t just made up of just humans, but there are Pokemon in danger too and it’s only right that we protect them since they live alongside us!”

“Well, let’s go then! The longer we wait, the more people and Pokemon will be in trouble. Calem, Serena, are you two in?” Shauna asked. 

Calem readjusted the strap of his shoulder bag. “Yeah. Let’s show them how strong us Kalosian trainers can be when it comes to protecting others!”

“Count me in! Protecting others is part of protecting yourself.” Serena agreed. 

“But...But you’re just a bunch of teenagers-”

“Hey! Age has nothing to do with how capable someone is. Didn’t you listen to anything that lady on the screen said? As long as you love someone enough, and you have that desire to protect them, then you already have that spark to make it happen! Change doesn’t happen overnight, but change doesn’t start unless you do something!” Shauna retorted. 

Serena tapped Matthew on the shoulder. “Sorry to impose, sir, but are you perhaps related to the woman asking for help? I couldn’t help notice the resemblance you two have.”

“Yeah. I’m technically her older brother.” Matthew answered honestly.

“Technically?”

“It’s uhh...It’s a long story.”

“I see. Then, since we probably have the same goal, why don’t you come with us?” She offered. 

“Oh, well...Problem is, is that my colleague and I don’t have any Pokemon that can fly…” Matthew confessed with a light blush. He couldn’t exactly rely on his Solrock and Lunatone to carry him across the ocean using Psychic. It wasn’t practical and it didn’t seem...the most dignified mode of transportation. 

“That’s not a problem! Your colleague can hitch a ride with me on my Altaria, and you can share a ride with Trevor on his Aerodactyl!”

“Is that OK?”

“Of course it is! You know what they say - power in numbers! And we’re all here working towards the same goal.”

It took a lot of restraint for Matthew not to tear up at the united display. This - this right here was the support Juliet should have gotten when she was a Champion. Anyone was capable of changing the world and being united with others was what made people stronger. That’s how the world should be. Raising each other up instead of tearing each other down because of pettiness and jealousy. Everyone had something special, and Juliet was there to remind everyone of that. 

There was no time to argue about the differences. 

“Thank you. In that case, let’s help protect Galar together!”

“Yeah!”

* * *

“Dubwool, use Take Down!” Hop commanded. Dubwool barrel through all of Rose’s agents and Pokemon like a game of bowling, releasing both the rusted shield and rusted sword from their grasps. They landed on the ground in a clatter, but luckily they didn’t break, much to their relief. Hop and Gloria quickly snatched them up and hurried back to Sonia’s car, only to notice more of Rose’s goons heading towards their direction from a distance. 

“Ugh, what a pain in the arse!” Hop complained. 

“There’s no end to them!” Gloria heaved.

Piers and Marnie stood in front of them with their arms out. “Go! We’ll take care of things from here.”

“But-”

“Don’t underestimate my brother and I. I’m going to be Spikemuth’s new Gym Leader after all.” Marnie stated calmly. Piers looked over at his sister, proud evident on his face that his sister had accepted her position as being his successor. Once all of this was over, he was going to make sure to bring glory back to Spikemuth so his sister could shine brighter as a Gym Leader than he did. 

“I’m glad, Marnie. Then, as my successor, show your brother what you can do!”

“Just watch me!”

“Hop! Gloria! Let’s go!” Sonia called from her car. Hop and Gloria clumsily clambered into her car and they only had a second to put on their seat belts before Sonia slammed her feet into the gas pedal, propelling her car into overdrive. For such a cheerful and intelligent Professor, she was one reckless driver that Hop and Gloria could barely hang on as she weaved through the streets towards Hammerlocke. 

_“Hang on just a bit longer, Juliet!”_ Hop prayed to himself. 

* * *

“Are we there yet?”

“May, you asked that five minutes ago. Latias and Latios are flying as fast as they can!” Brendan scolded lightly. He turned to Steven Stone and Wallace, who were flying close behind them on an Aerodactyl. “We were going to ask Wally if he wanted to join, but the situation would probably put too much stress on his body so thanks for coming with us! I feel like we’re really unstoppable now!”

“Heh, spoken like a true Champion.” Steven said with an amused grin. “When everything gets resolved, I might just stop by the Galar mines to do some digging of my own.”

Wallace rolled his eyes. “Had ulterior motives for going on this excursion, did you?”

“Well, you know what they say - knock two bird Pokemon with one stone?”

“Unbelievable…”

Brendan snorted. “As long as you’re motivated! For me, I don’t just want to help Juliet but...It’d be nice to talk to her again. Catch up, and all that. She’s been through a lot, but even after all these years, I want her to know that we still think about her.”

Wallace nodded in agreement. “You have a very kind heart, Brendan. I for one, would like to speak to her as well. Well, to apologize, really.”

May raised her eyebrow at that and looked over with piqued interest. “Apologize? For what?”

“Well…” Wallace began with a deep sigh. “I feel partially responsible for her...fall from grace. She was the one who beat me after all. And I’ve never forgotten our battle. Her gaze, her quick thinking - she was remarkable! And, I should have been there for her more as a mentor and stave off the things people were saying about her. Honestly, people get so caught up by their own pride that they don’t realize the gravity of their words. I was so busy with participating in contests in other regions, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that I could have done more. I don’t know about her home life but...I could tell she had a heavy heart.”

May and Brendan looked at each other, knowing that they themselves weren’t completely oblivious themselves. They didn’t know the details and honestly, at the age they were at, what could have they done? The guilt didn’t set in until they went to Lilycove City in hopes of catching Juliet when her parents weren’t around, but when they went to her house and looked through her bedroom window, there was nothing. Not even a bed. Juliet didn’t have the means to keep in touch with them, so there was no way for them to know where she was, or if she was even alive at all. 

So, seeing her on TV was both a relief, but also a painful reminder. 

“Come now, do you really think Juliet would want to see any of you with such gloomy faces?” Steven cut through the silence with a gentle smile. “It’s OK to acknowledge your regrets, but the most important thing is to grow from them for the present. For someone who’s willing to admit their shortcomings, Juliet doesn’t seem the type to hold a grudge.”

Brendan smiled gently at that. “You’re right, Steven. She was honestly a bit of a pushover as a kid, but only because she had other people’s interest in mind. It was probably her way of trying to fit in. I think for her...being forgotten is her greatest fear.”

“Kind of ironic considering she wanted to be forgotten as one of Hoenn’s Champions…” May lamented. 

Steven opened his mouth to reply, until the sound of beating wings could be heard weren’t coming from them. The sky was overcast, so it was covered in grey clouds for the most part, but there was no mistaking the sound of someone calling to them as well. “Do you hear that?”

“Over here! Look up!’

The four Hoennian trainers looked up to see another trainer atop a Pidgeot descending to where they were. Their jaws dropped in recognition. 

“Hey there! I take it you guys are headed to Galar too?” Blue smirked.

“Y-You’re…” Brendan stuttered.

“Blue!” May squeaked. 

“Heh, relax! I’m flattered that you guys have heard of me, but we’re all equals in this case.”

“So, you’re also on your way to Galar?” Steven asked. 

“That’s right! And I’m not going alone! Fly a bit higher and see for yourselves!” Blue answered, before his Pidgeot ascended through the clouds. They looked at each other curiously before commanding their Pokemon to fly higher, above the clouds. 

What they saw made their hearts leap.

Countless other trainers were flying together, side-by-side, and all flying in the same direction as they were. May strained her eyes to pick out any familiar faces from the large group and her eyes lit up upon seeing a familiar trainer with long blue hair and yellow triangle shaped barrettes, with a white knitted hat on her head, riding on top of a Togekiss. 

“Dawn!”

Dawn’s head perked up and she turned her head in the direction of the call and beamed. “May! It’s been awhile!”

May maneuvered Latias so she was flying next to the Sinnohan trainer. “Yeah, it has! How have your contests been?”

“I’m actually taking a bit of break right now. I was planning on going to other regions to get inspiration for future routines. Maybe even catch some new Pokemon while I’m at it! And you?”

“I’m in a similar spot as you. Even though I’ve been a Top Coordinator for awhile, it’s been really tough trying to maintain that momentum.”

“I can imagine! Maybe I’ll learn a thing or two from you when we’re in Galar!” Dawn lowered her gaze down to the Mega Evolved Mythical Pokemon she was riding on top of. “I’m still a little jealous that you managed to catch Latias!”

“Seriously - talk about showing us up.” Barry interjected with a pout. His Staraptor squawked at him irritably, clearly insulted and threatening to throw him off his back. He apologized profusely and clung to his Staraptor for dear life until he finally settled down. 

“Serves you right.” Dawn commented with a deadpan expression. 

“I said I was sorry!”

“Come on you two, we’re almost there so behave!” Lucas laughed. 

“Fancy seeing you here, Cynthia.” Wallace noted, addressing the blond hair Champion who was riding on her famous Garchomp. 

“Likewise, Wallace, Steven. How have you both been? Collecting rocks as usual, Steven?” Cynthia wondered. 

“You know me well. And you? Researching as always?”

“Indeed. There’s always something to discover, and this situation has piqued my interest on top of wanting to lend my power.” 

“Oh? How so?”

“Well-”

“Hey!!! Are we having a Champions meeting over here?” Iris howled, zooming in on her Hydreigon with Alder sitting behind her. Alder chuckled at the young trainer’s enthusiasm before turning to the other gathering Champions. 

“Good day to you all! To think we’d be gathered here today for the same noble cause.”

“You know what they say - great minds think alike!” Blue added. “It certainly feels like one hell of a party, that’s for sure. Red, Leaf, and I were planning on checking the Wild Area out in Galar since we’ve been running the Alola Battle Tree for awhile so I’d hate to see it fall because of some crazy businessman.”

“Whatever the reason may be, the important thing is that we have to protect the people and Pokemon. Justice comes after.” Lance chimed in, swerving in on his Dragonite. 

“That’s Lance for ya. Now that I think about it…” Blue looked around the skies, counting heads to himself and quirking his brow. “Are we missing a few Champions?”

“I think we’re missing Diantha from Kalos and Selene from Alola? I imagine Diantha would catch up to us pretty soon since Kalos is the closest to Galar but Alola-” Brendan began. 

“You called?” Diantha flew in with grace on top of a Charizard, with Shauna holding onto her carefully from behind. Shauna’s eyes sparkled as she whipped around to marvel at all the trainers and Champions who were gathered and couldn’t sit still in her seat. 

“Wow! There’s so many trainers here! It sort of feels like we’re making history here!”

“I didn’t know you had a Charizard, Diantha!” Leaf noticed, looking over Red’s shoulder. 

“Ahh, this Pokemon isn’t mine-”

“A-A-Are you alright, Miss Diantha? He’s not bothering you is he?” Trevor stuttered nervously, still in complete shock that the actress and Champion was OK with borrowing one of his Pokemon. He suddenly felt bad that he didn’t have a graceful Pokemon to fit with her image like an Altaria or-

“Trevor!” Shauna groaned. 

“Please, there’s no need to worry. This here is a fine Pokemon and I can tell you raised him well.”

“T-Thank you! That means a lot coming from you-”

“I’m here too!!” 

“There you are Sel-WHOA!” Brendan exclaimed in surprise, nearly falling off of Latios’ back. Selene, somehow casually entered the scene with her Lunala. The wing span on the Legendary Pokemon was rather wide, so many of them had to move aside to make room for it. It was almost comical how large her ‘mount’ was in comparison to theirs. 

Selene’s smile, though meant to be sheepish, came off as more smug than anything. “Did I miss anything?”

May stared at Barry with narrow eyes. “What did you say earlier about us showing off?”

“Ahaha…”

Hilbert side-eyed Hilda, who caught his glance. She rolled her eyes and chuckled, practically reading his mind. “We can’t just use Zekrom and Reshiram whenever we want, Hilbert. We don’t want to scare anyone.”

“It’d make for one flashy entrance, though!” Bianca giggled. “Wouldn’t you agree, Cheren?”

“I prefer a more subtle and strategic entrance. Attracting too much attention is not necessarily a good thing.” Cheren replied calmly. 

“You’re no fun…”

“Hey, Silver, got any plans for when we save the day?” Ethan asked.

SIlver scoffed. “Already thinking that far ahead?”

“It’s important to keep our guard up for sure, but what’s the harm in having something to look forward to?”

“When you put it that way, I have my eyes set on the Isle of Armor. Apparently the Master living there used to be Champion with a streak of 18 years.”

“18 years?!” Kris and Lyra gawked in unison. 

“He’s surely a worthy opponent if I want to be the strongest trainer in the world.” Silver smirked, feeling the rise of motivation within him because of his goal. “You were right, Ethan. I do feel more motivated than before.”

“Heh, seems like everyone is hyped up for their own reasons. So, now that all of us Champions, both past and present, are here, what’s our plan when we get there?” Brendan asked. 

* * *

“Tiki!” Juliet screamed in horror, as she watched her Flygon collapse to the ground yet still struggling to get back up. She rushed to her Pokemon’s side, stroking her back and turning her head so she could press their foreheads together. Tiki gazed at her trainer sadly, weakly crying out apologetically, only for Juliet to shush her gently.

“I-It’s going to be OK. You’ll hurt yourself more if you keep going.”

Juliet returned Tiki back into her Pokeball and took out her last available Pokemon. Her hands shook uncontrollably as she clutched Hajime’s Pokeball desperately. She lifted her head to look at Eternatus and Leon, who sustained barely any damage at all and looked like they were just getting started. She didn’t think she was this weak, but she was oh so wrong. Come on! She was better than this! She was able to beat Wallace with-

…

_But Wallace wasn’t Eternatus or Leon._

Then, what about the hundreds of Max Raids-

_But you weren’t alone._

Every excuse she tried to come up to make sense of her weakness kept being dashed by thoughts that continued to prove her wrong. She didn’t train for this. She didn’t have what it took to save the region. Then, what was her purpose for doing anything? If she couldn’t even save the one person she cared about most, who could she save?

She laughed pitifully at the realization. Those were the same words that Sonia told her before about Leon. And now she was getting a taste of her own medicine. 

But, she couldn’t give up now. She didn’t have a choice. And all of her cards were betting on Hajime. 

Juliet took a shaky breath and tossed Hajime’s Pokeball. She was all out of Max Revives and Potions, but her Swampert stood stronger than ever. She had always thought that Wallace was going to be the greatest, indomitable opponent of her life, only now to be faced with an opponent that was far greater in strength and hostility. She should really stop counting Pokemon eggs before they hatched. 

“Hajime, I’m counting on you! Hang on for just a bit longer!”

Hajime roared and stood his ground, awaiting his trainer’s command. 

“Use Ice Beam!”

Hajime unleashed a sharp stream of ice into the air, striking Eternatus’ tail. It hissed angrily, shaking off the frost and ice and charging up another laser beam from its core. Juliet clicked her tongue in annoyance. “Protect!” 

The Swampert put up his defenses just as the devastating laser made impact against his shield and although it didn’t harm him, the sheer force pushed him back several feet, despite how burly the Pokemon was and how hard he was digging his feet into the ground. “You’re doing great, Hajime! Keep pushing back!”

But he could only use Protect so many times. She needed to land at least one decisive attack to throw it off balance. Even if it meant doing something completely out of the box. _Come on, Juliet, think! Look around and use your surroundings to your advantage!_ Her eyes looked around wildly at the top of Hammerlocke Castle. There was no special terrain involved like water or sand. There was absolutely nothing besides the broken cobblestone pillars that jutted up from the side and curved up like an arch-

Wait. 

She noted that there were four and one of them was the least damaged out of the three, standing much taller within range of where Eternatus flew. 

It was a gamble but it was now or never. 

“Hajime! Scale up that pillar using Surf!”

Hajime didn’t question his trainer’s command and summoned a massive wave that flowed along the surface of the pillar, before spreading outwards into a tsunami sized wave that crashed into Eternatus. But, the water needed somewhere to go which meant that it would crash down towards where she and Leon were. Before she held her breath and awaited the oncoming wave, she ordered her Swampert to use Hammer Arm to crush it to the ground. She clung to a nearby wall and pressed herself against it as the wave crashed into the ground, submerging the area in water for a moment before spilling over the side. 

She coughed and sputtered out water, and brushed her damp hair aside to see Eternatus lying on the ground with Leon laying beside it. Hajime rushed over to Juliet’s side and stood in front of her protectively. 

Did...Did she do it?

Hajime slowly approached Eternatus cautiously and his eyes widened upon seeing a red light building up in its core. It was charging up another attack! He whipped around immediately and pushed Juliet out of the way just in time as Hajime faced the attack head on and got blasted into a wall. Juliet pulled herself up from the wet floor and felt her heart drop at the sight of her Swampert lying motionless on the ground.

“HAJIME!” She wailed. She crawled towards him and turned his body over to see his eyes closed. Panic rose within her and her body shook. 

_No, no, no!_

“Hajime! No! Please! Wake up!” She pleaded with teary eyes. Juliet shook his body in hopes he was just unconscious and not...and not…

Hajime groaned in pain and weakly turned his head to his trainer, who cried out in relief and held his body tightly. “You’re OK. You’re OK. You’re-”

Suddenly, someone grabbed her collar from behind, twisting her around before wrapping both hands tightly around her throat. Juliet wheezed and croaked, staring into Leon’s soulless gaze with pure fear as his fingers continued to dig into her throat, restricting precious air from her lungs. He lifted her effortlessly off the ground, still clutching at her throat, and held over the edge where death would surely meet her if he let go. She stared down at the drop and gazed at him helplessly.

Was this seriously it?

Was this how she was going to die?

At the hands of someone she cared so deeply for?

She couldn’t tell if her vision was blurring because of her tears, or because her life was slipping away. 

_“Darkrai, stop!”_

In that moment, Maya had somehow pushed through Juliet’s consciousness, barely revealing herself to Leon, which made his soulless eyes widen and they flitted back to the golden hues she always knew. His hands loosened just enough for Juliet to gasp for as much air as she could without him dropping her to her doom. It was a delicate balance between life and death. And Maya was helping her cling on to _life._

_“Darkrai...I know you’re in there. You’re in so much pain right now. Please....don’t do this…”_

Every time Juliet blinked, she swore her vision shifted from Leon, to Darkrai. Even though he had merged with Eternatus, somehow, his sense of self remained within Leon’s possession. Arceus, was now really the time for her to contemplate such things?!

**“Ma....ya…”** Darkrai uttered through Leon’s lips. 

_“Yes! That’s right! It’s me! Pull us back to safety, please!”_

Desperately trying to wrangle his sense of control back, Darkrai slowly pulled Juliet’s body back, away from the edge, making her heart slowly settle in relief. 

That was until Pistachio popped out of his Pokeball and charged at Leon, biting into his ankles making him hiss out in pain as he tried to shake off the rowdy Trapinch while holding Juliet precariously over the edge. She tried to say something, anything! She weakly tried to order Pistachio to stop through her wheezing, but all she could do was watch helplessly as Eternatus regained its composure-

And smacked it’s tail into Pistachio, sending him flying over the edge.

...

**_That was the last straw._ **

She didn’t care what happened to her anymore. There was no way she was going to let anyone die because of her. She mustered up enough strength to slip out of Leon’s grasp and dove towards her falling Trapinch with her arms out. She yanked him to her chest and held him protectively as they both descended towards death itself. Juliet prayed and prayed, pleading to whatever gods were listening, to spare PIstachio, her Pokemon, everyone she loved - in exchange for her life if it meant that they’d be safe. 

She was _tired._ She already had been through so much suffering.

This was a fitting end for her. 

As the ground got closer and closer, her arms tightened around Pistachio as she awaited for the inevitable-

…

But, there was nothing.

Did she die so quickly that she didn’t feel a single thing?

…

Why was Pistachio squirming so much?

“You’re not dead you know.”

Juliet slowly opened her eyes and barely registered that...she was flying? No, she was sitting on a Pokemon that was. Her eyes followed the Pokemon’s purple, outstretched wings, before falling on the person who was sitting in front of her. Pale blue eyes met her own sapphire ones. She blinked, completely dumbfounded, before breaking out into a big grin. “Brendan?! What are you doing here?”

“Saving you. What else?” He answered bluntly. 

“But, how-”

“Geez, are you still stuck in limbo or something? Your video reached far and wide and got so many of us to take action!”

“...So many?”

“You should have seen all the trainers and Champions when we were flying to Galar! It really felt like we could do anything!” May exclaimed, flying in next to them. 

“May…!” Juliet sobbed. She couldn’t help it. She had resigned herself to her demise, only to be saved in the nick of time by two friends from her childhood. Somehow, it looked like they hadn’t changed at all and yet, they were older, just like her. But...her video actually reached them? And not just them, to countless others including other Champions? It was almost too good to be true-

“Those tears better be from happiness.” 

“They are, I promise! I just...I can’t believe you’re both here…” Juliet whimpered, nuzzling her Trapinch lovingly, relieved that she could at least save him. “I thought I was a goner for sure!”

“I guess we can’t blame you for crying huh? You must have dealt with so much until now. But, don’t worry - we’re all here now!” Brendan comforted. “Got any other plans up your sleeve on how to deal with Leon and Eternatus?”

“I have one, but all of my Pokemon are down for the count-”

“Then, lemme heal them up for you!” May offered.

“It’ll have to wait! Hang on!” Brendan hissed, urging his Latios to swerve away from Eternatus’ laser, followed by intercepting its smaller lasers with Dragon Pulse. Its laser was nothing against Latios and Latias’ speed, but they couldn’t outrun Eternatus’ attack forever, especially since Latios and Latias were both growing tired from the long flight. Just as Eternatus charged up another attack, something swiftly spun towards it, landing a decisive hit against Eternatus’ side. 

“What was that?!” May gawked. 

Juliet squinted her eyes, noticing the small drops of water that dripped from Eternatus’ body. “That’s…! That’s Water Shuriken!” Her eyes spotted her Greninja scaling up the side of the castle, with her Alolan Ninetales following close behind and her Oricorio riding on her back. “What are those three doing here?! They’re supposed to be in Alola!”

“Seems like they had the same idea as us!” May giggled. 

Flora, the Alolan Ninetales, went over to Hajime’s side and carefully nudged his body with her nose, while Soleil, the Oricorio, rubbed her pom pom feathers soothingly along his head fins before May jumped off of Latias and bent down to their level. “It’s alright you two! He’ll be as good as new in no time!”

“Felix, Flora, Soleil!” Juliet called over. Soleil didn’t waste another second and jumped into her awaiting arms, chirping happily at seeing her trainer again. Flora bounded over as well standing up on her hind legs to lick her trainer’s face affectionately. “That tickles, Flora!”

“Juliet! Maybe save it for later?!”

“Oh, right! Felix!” Juliet whipped around to see the Greninja standing protectively in front of her. He turned his head to her, silently waiting for her command. Juliet gestured to her head, indicating the crown resting on Leon’s head. He nodded and narrowed his eyes determingly. “Use Double Team!”

Felix split off into multiple clones, surrounding Eternatus and Leon as a means to distract them. Even though Eternatus had an edge in power and reach, then confusing it was the only way to work around it. “Soleil, use Helping Hand on Flora! Flora, use Dazzling Gleam on Eternatus!” 

Soleil beated her pom pom wings together towards Flora, allowing the Alolan Ninetales to summon a surge of glimmering crystals from each of her majetic tails and focused all of her power into unleashing it towards Eternatus. As Leon was about to give his next command, the real Felix snuck up from behind him, and sliced through the clear mechanism at the back of his head that kept the crown firmly in place. The crown tumbled off of his head, landing with a sharp clang, releasing him from Eternatus’ control, at the same moment Dazzling Gleam landed a critical hit. Juliet reached out, sliding across the wet pavement to catch Leon’s body. 

“Leon…?” She uttered. She pressed two fingers against his neck and she was overcome with relief, feeling his gentle pulse on her fingertips. He was _alive._ Somehow. Juliet brushed his hair out of his face just as his closed eyelids began to twitch, before slowly opening. He blinked a couple of times, trying to make sense of what had happened amidst the vanishing haze from his mind. He felt...calm again. His eyes had returned to their golden colour, for good this time, and he locked eyes with Juliet’s. 

“H-Hey…” She croaked. “You...OK?”

Obviously he was not, but he was certainly in a way better spot than before. He reached up to brush away the tears that were pooling in her eyes and held her cheek tenderly. His hand was warm. As they always had been. “J...I’m...I’m so sorry…I caused so much chaos...I…!”

Juliet rapidly shook her head, tears streaming down her cheeks. “It’s not your fault…! Rose did this to you, he…!” She cradled his head close. “He made you suffer…”

Suddenly, Flora started to growl alerting both Felix and Soleil, who noticed that the crown that fell off of Leon’s head, was now shining brightly. The crystal in the centre began to crack, before shattering completely and releasing a huge amount of energy that flowed back to Eternatus’ body. Brendan rushed over, barking at the Pokemon to get to safety before taking Leon’s other shoulder and hobbling him away before an explosion of light overtook the area, blinding them, as they tumbled down the small flight of stairs. When the light subsided, they all looked up with a gasp to see Eternatus coiled up like a snake, and revealing its true form as a gargantuanly sized hand. 

“Holy shit…” Brendan whispered. “Is this what they call having a final form?”

“This is no time for jokes, Brendan! That thing is way too big for all of us to fight!” May groaned. 

“May, we were able to fight two evil organizations who fought to sink the whole world or dry up the ocean! We just need some back up-”

“We’re here!!” Hop announced, bursting out of the elevator with Gloria. “Sorry for the wait, we were-WHAT IN BLOODY HELL IS _THAT?!”_

“That’s not what Eternatus looked like before!!” Gloria stammered. 

“There’s no time to question it! We saved Leon, and now it’s up to you two! Zacian and Zamazenta have to come to our rescue now!!” Juliet screamed. 

“R-Right! Come on, Hop!” Gloria beckoned. 

Hop looked at his brother, who had fallen unconscious, and then at Juliet. “Thank you....for saving him.”

“You’re welcome, now go! Brendan, you take Leon to the hospital while May and I are going to the Wild Area!” Juliet ordered hastily.

“Right!”

Once they left, Hop and Gloria stood side-by-side in front of what was now Eternatus’ true form. Gloria looked down at her rusted sword, which glowed blue; and Hop looked down at his shield, which glowed red. They nodded to each other and held up their respective weapons high into the air, in the face of adversity. 

“We will protect...Galar’s people and Pokemon!!”

* * *

Milo stood defensively in front of his pack of Wooloo, staring up at the G-Max Orbeetle that was approaching closer and closer-

“Lunala! Use Moongeist Beam!” 

The farmer watched with his jaw drop as the Pokemon crash landed into the field after a single hit before reverting back to its original form.

“You’re Galar’s Grass Gym Leader Milo, right? I’m Selene, Alola’s Champion!”

“A-Alola?!”

“Yup! My friends and I have the rest of Turffield covered so don’t worry!”

“Thank you!” Milo thanked cheerfully before pressing his hand against his ear. “Turffield is secured!”

* * *

“Gardevoir, use Dream Eater!”

Nessa whipped her head around with eyes wide. “Diantha!”

“Hello, Nessa. It’s been awhile since we’ve last seen each other from our last shoot. But, we can catch up later, yes?”

“Of course!” Nessa pressed his hand to her ear. “Hulbury is secured!”

* * *

“Well, if it isn’t Flannery’s uncle!”

“W-Wallace!” Kabu exclaimed. “You’re here too?”

“But, of course! You may have moved to Galar, but you’ll always have that bright Hoennian fire inside of you. So, allow me to help protect that with my waves! Milotic, dazzle this Dynamax Pokemon with Hydro Pump!” Wallace sent out his beloved Milotic with a flourish. 

Kabu chuckled at Wallace’s usual theatrics and pressed his hand to his ear. “Motostoke is secured.”

* * *

“Hey kids! Need a hand?”

“Y-You’re Champion Iris!” Bea stuttered in surprise. “What brings you to Galar?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Iris giggled before sending out her Salamence. “It looks like you guys need some help so a bunch of us are here to the rescue! Stand back! I’ll show this Pokemon just how unstoppable we can be!”

“T-Thank you so much!” Allister bowed his head profusely before pressing his hand to his ear. “S-Stow-on-Side is secured!”

* * *

“Who’s this...rustic clad gentlemen?” 

“Rustic?! Who are you callin’ rustic?” Alder howled in laughter. “Is that any way to talk to someone who’s here to help?”

“Bede, show some respect for our guest here.” Opal scolded lightly. “Thank you for coming, Alder.”

“No problem. Never fought many Fairy-type Pokemon before so this should be good training! Volcarona, use Heat Wave!”

“Can’t you be a little more graceful? Hatterene, use Psychic!” Bede ordered. 

Opal sighed and shook her at their silly competitiveness. “Ballonea is secured.”

* * *

“Mom, stand back! Let me handle this!”

“Gordie! Be careful!”

“Metagross, use Bullet Punch!”

“Garchomp, use Flamethrower!”

Gordie had to do a double take seeing the pale blue haired gentleman and the blond Sinnohan Champion walk into their Gym with both their Metagross and Garchomp Mega Evolved, following right behind him. His shades fell to the bridge of his nose and his voice cracked. “S-S-S-S-S-Steven Stone?! And Cynthia?!”

“That’s us. Gordie and Melony, correct?” Cynthia smiled gently.

“Let’s wrap this up, shall we?” Steven remarked confidently. 

“Yes, let’s!” Melony agreed. “Circhester is secured!”

* * *

“Long time no see, Raihan!”

“Lance! Sorry for the rather...chaotic welcome.”

Lance waved his hand. “Don’t be. I couldn’t sit back and let Pokemon run amok, hurting innocent people and Pokemon, and even damaging Galar’s rich history.”

“Then, show me what you got! I want to see how much stronger you’ve gotten if that’s even possible.” Raihan challenged with a smirk. “Hammerlocke is secured!”

* * *

Deep within Slumbering Weald, beyond the altar, light began to shimmer and shine upon Zacian and Zamazenta’s resting place, expanding far before shooting up into the sky with beams of red and blue, followed by the howls of both Legendary Pokemon that echoed far and wide across the region. 

Their mighty howls instilled hope and courage within everyone who was fighting to protect the Galar region.

* * *

“Juliet, status report. Is everything alright?” Anabel reported in. 

_“We managed to release Leon from Eternatus’ hold and have transported him to a hospital. It sounds like all the towns and cities are secure thanks to everyone’s help from other regions-”_

“Other regions, you said? Heh, so this was your trump card, huh?”

_“Yeah. Something like that. Hop and Gloria managed to get back the rusted sword and shield so we just have to take care of Eternatus and the Wild Area! What’s happening on your end?”_

Anabel looked over to see Chairman Rose, Oleana, and other Macros Cosmos accomplices, being handcuffed by Looker, with her two Legendary Beasts standing on either side of them like guards. “They’ve been arrested and we’re keeping a close eye on them down here until the situation clears up on the surface. Can’t exactly interrogate them yet since they have rights to be represented by a lawyer-”

_“That’s good. In that case, hang tight and hopefully this will all be over soon!”_

“We’re counting on you.”

* * *

Hop and Gloria braced themselves for Eternatus with their respective weapons, when two beams of light crashed in front of them, shielding them from its attack with each greater power that surrounded them. The rusted sword and rusted shield slipped from their hands and rightfully returned to their original owners. By holding those weapons between their fangs, their forms shifted from the canines who appeared weakened by countless battles, to true heroes, brandishing the weapons of Galar’s hope and protection. They proudly stood up to Eternatus, with renewed power and energy flowing through every bone in their body. 

“Zacian!”

“Zamazenta!”

The two young trainers could hardly believe their eyes. The legend of the two heroes brandishing the sword and shield to seal away the Darkest Day - they were reliving that fateful but this time they were the heroes that paralleled on the tapestries. Even though they didn’t have any royal blood flowing in their veins, all the ordeals that led up to this point only proved to them that anyone could be a hero! Hop dreamed of making history as a Champion, but fate had prepared him for a greater purpose that surpassed the title he longed to have. 

Now wasn’t the time to cry, so Hop slapped his cheeks and pumped his fist into the air. “Let’s do this, Gloria!”

“Together! Zacian, use Behemoth Blade!”

“Zamazenta, use Behemoth Bash!” 

Zacian’s sword transformed in size and appearance, and it leaped towards Eternatus, slashing repeatedly before clearing the path for Zamazenta to bash its head into Eternatus in a fiery blast. Hop and Gloria prepared to jump out of the way for its oncoming flurry of lasers, only for none to come at all upon seeing something slither through the sky near Eternatus’ core. 

“Hey!! I’ll make sure this thing does hurt you two!!” Brenda yelled.

“Is he riding…” Gloria started.

“A Rayquaza?! It’s Mega Evolved too!” Hop awed. “Come on, Glo! Let’s show how Zacian and Zamazenta are the stars here!”

* * *

“Matthew, don’t even think about going out there.”

“But-”

“I know you’re worried about your sister, but you have an important role to play here.” Dr. Fennel sighed, her eyes wandering to Leon’s slumbering form. In her opinion, it was honestly a miracle that he was still alive. To be possessed by a Pokemon with such formidable power, normal people wouldn’t be able to hold such power within themselves without their bodies being overwhelmed and falling apart as a result. Maybe the armor he wore was what protected him? She wanted to believe it served a bigger purpose than just decoration. But, pondering on such things was way above her paygrade. 

“Um...Excuse me?” Sonia peeked in.

“Hello. And who might you be?” Matthew asked.

“I’m Sonia. A Pokemon Professor.”

“Oh! Hello, Professor! Are you a friend of Leon’s?”

“I am, but I also came by because the other doctors told me that the armor he wore is here too. I was hoping I could check it out?”

“It’s all yours, Professor.” Matthew gestured to the aforementioned suit of armor that was hung up on the wall. Sonia walked over to it and hummed curiously, jotting something down in her notebook. She flipped through her notes and sketches and noticed the similarities to its design to the statue in Budew Inn. 

“Fixation…” 

“What’s that, Professor?” Fennel asked with a tilt of her head. 

‘Oh, sorry! I’m just talking to myself. I’m in charge of researching the Darkest Day and all this attention to detail between past and present is making me question why Rose became so...obsessed. I thought this was an open and shut case but, possessing Leon to control Eternatus? I feel like there’s something more to the power of Dynamax that I’m missing…” Sonia pondered deeply. “How is he by the way? Is...Is he going to be OK?”

“Well, his vitals are normal so he should be awake any moment now.” Matthew reassured. 

“Oh, that’s good. Well, I should leave you to your work-” A beep came from Sonia’s pocket, cutting off her sentence abruptly. Oh shoot, she forgot that she had to turn off devices when entering a hospital to prevent any signal interference. But the sound didn’t come from her phone.

It came from her Dynamax reader.

She raised an eyebrow. Why did it go off? It only reacted to the presence of Galar particles, which made up the power of Dynamax so it shouldn’t have reacted to anything else. Maybe she was just overthinking things with how tired she was. She switched it off and bowed her head politely to Matthew and Dr. Fennel before leaving the hospital room. 

The suit of armor he wore…

Her Dynamax reader going off…

What did it all mean?

* * *

“Let’s finish this, Hop!”

“You got it! Zamazenta, Behemoth Bash!”

“Zacian, Behemoth Blade!”

Zacian and Zamazenta dished out a final round of their attacks, causing Eternatus to cry out in agony and crash into the top of the castle. The core that glowed in Eternatus was nothing more than a faint spark, making Brendan confident that this was their chance. “Try catching it now!”

Gloria pulled out an Ultra Ball from her bag which grew in her hand. This was their victory, and she wasn’t about to keep the glory for herself. She turned to Hop and pushed it towards him. “Together?”

Hop beamed and lifted his side of the Dynamaxed Ultra Ball. “On the count of three?”

“1,”

“2,”

“3!” They exclaimed in unison, tossing the ball at Eternatus with all of their might. The creature was sucked into the ball and landed on the ground with a harsh thud.

…

It shook once. Gloria and Hop held each other with bated breaths

...

It shook twice. The two legendary Pokemon protectively stood in front of the two trainers.

...

It shook thrice. Brendan braced himself for the worst case scenario. 

..

The Ultra Ball glowed green and shrunk. Hop let out the loudest victory cry they had ever heard and he picked up Gloria and spun her around. She laughed at the gesture and lightly protested that he let her go. Brendan slumped as he sighed, feeling all the built up suspense escape his body all at once. They all looked up to the sky, welcoming the sight of the evening sky show itself once more through the warm, yet bright, setting sun. Some stars even decided to make an early show, as if to celebrate their valiant efforts. 

But...just when they thought that things were finally going to settle, Zacian and Zamazenta growled with intimidation at what was left…

What was left behind.

Darkrai struggled to get up. There was so much power and chaos swirling inside of him with nowhere to go. It hurt. It hurt so much. The agonizing pain was keeping him firmly planted to the ground as if he was being pulled by a magnet. 

Let me go.

_Let me go!_

**_LET ME GO!_ **

* * *

“Juliet, the sky!” 

Juliet followed May’s gaze and looked up to see the murky clouds disappearing, letting the stars of the evening sky shine through the darkness. It was nothing short of a welcome sight, and it was no doubt something that no one would ever take for granted ever again. 

They did it.

They actually _did it._

“Jules!!” Mary called as she rushed over. She flung her arms around her neck, pulling her into a bone crushing hug that squeezed the air out of her lungs. Arceus, how many times was she going to have a near death experience through asphyxiation?! 

“Mary...I almost died earlier from being choked earlier so do you mind…?” 

“Oh!” She immediately released her. “Sorry! And what?! You almost died?!”

Juliet coughed and wheezed. “I’ll tell you later. I don’t want to put a damper on the celebration that’s happening right now.” From what she could see, all the trainers, fellow Max Raid teams, who came to fight for their cause, were high fiving each other and embracing each other from what felt like the end of the world. 

“We did it! We really did it!” Vanquil jumped off of his Charizard and looped his arm around Juliet’s neck into a playful chokehold. Tessu followed suit and wrapped her arms around her waist.

Oh for Arceus sake-

“Can someone hug or high five me like a normal person?!”

“That can be arranged. Up top, Juliet.” Blue snickered, holding up his hand. Juliet couldn’t help but freeze up, remembering she was in the presence of some incredible trainers from around the world- “You inspired us to come out here so, relax!”

“O-OK…” Escaping Vanquil’s chokehold, she slapped her hand against his palm proudly. Even if it stung a bit. 

“That’s the spirit! Guess all that’s left is to clean up this mess, huh?” Blue whistled, looking over at the state of the Wild Area, which was looking worse for wear, but seeing trainers check up on each other and the surrounding Pokemon, it made the destruction a bit more bearable. It was a minor set back to how many lives they saved. 

“Yeah, but first let’s make sure everyone is safe and accounted for. I’ll go check up on Gloria and Hop!” Juliet volunteered, already boarding Tiki and taking off towards Hammerlocke castle.

“Rosa, reporting for duty!” Rosa playfully saluted. 

“Uhhh, I think you were supposed to do that at the start of the mission, Rosa. I think now you’re supposed to say, ‘The mission has been a success!’” Nate corrected with a laugh. 

“Oh! Then, the mission has been a success!”

“You’re not even a soldier.” Hugh snorted. 

“Good work, cadet.” Blue saluted back. “Alright, let’s reconvene at the Meet-Up Spot to make sure everyone is OK!’

* * *

“Glo...What is that?” Hop asked fearfully.

“Do you think that’s...Do you think that’s Darkrai?” Gloria answered hesitantly. 

“Darkrai?! He really was merged with Eternatus then. But, something isn’t right…” Hop took a step forward to approach the Nightmare Pokemon, but Zamazenta stood in his way as if to say, ‘don’t move’. “Then...Should we try to throw a Pokeball at him?”

Gloria sifted through her bag and shook her head. “I don’t have anymore. I stocked up for my battles but not for catching Pokemon…”

“Hang on, you two. Let me take care of him.” Brendan told them quietly as he got off of his Rayquaza and returned him into his Pokeball. He reached into his bag and pulled out an Ultra Ball, tossing it in the air a few times to warm up his throwing arm. He reeled his hand back and twisted his wrist, throwing it as a curve ball, but Darkrai ended up swatting it away, where it broke upon hitting the ground. He clicked his tongue. “Guess that’s out of the question…”

Can’t trust humans…

_Can’t trust humans!_

**_CAN’T TRUST HUMANS!_ **

**“LEAVE ME ALONE!!”** Darkrai cried out in agony, summoning a giant shadow ball in his hands and hurling it towards them. Zacian and Zamazenta stood their ground and prepared to counter it-

But someone had jumped out in front of them. 

The attack slammed into her body, pushing her onto her back, where her body lay motionless on the ground. 

Brendan was the first to react, his heart dropping into the pit of his stomach as he ran over to her side and shook her body. “JULIET! Juliet! Come on! Wake up! Why did you do something so stupid?! What were you fucking thinking?!”

Gloria dropped to her knees in shock. “J...Juliet...No…”

Hop felt every fiber in his body shake, making him fall back on his behind. “...Why…”

“Don’t just sit there, you two! Hurry and get help!”

“Hey! Are you guys alr-” Raihan started until spotting Brendan holding Juliet’s body. He would have dropped his Rotom phone onto the ground if it didn’t catch itself last minute. “What happened to Juliet?!” 

“I don’t know! But, she’s not moving! We have to get her out of here!” Brendan shouted in panic. 

“OK, OK, let me carry her then-” Raihan swiftly tucked his hands under her knees while supporting her back with the other and made a mad dash down the stairs and to the elevator. 

Brendan could hear his heart pounding in his ears so loudly that he didn’t even register Gloria’s question. “...Huh?”

“What should we do about Darkrai? He’s…” 

Brendan turned his attention to the Pokemon, who was now slumped to the ground, just as unmoving as Juliet was. In his fit of rage, he almost didn’t want to help him, but that wasn’t the kind of trainer he wanted to be. Swallowing his animosity, he went over to it and carefully slung one of his ghostly arms around his shoulder. “Mind giving me a hand?”

“R-Right…” Hop came to his side and took Darkrai’s other side. 

Gloria turned to Zacian and Zamazenta, and she could tell that they were apologetic from how downcasted both of their eyes were. She gingerly stroked both canines and softly whimpered, “Thank you...for helping us. I’m sure she’s going to be OK…You two should get some rest.”

The two Legendary Pokemon reverted back to their previous forms and leaped off of Hammerlocke Castle and into the starry sky, leaving behind both the rusted sword and shield in her possession. She picked up both weapons and quietly followed Brendan and Hop to the elevator. 

* * *

Leon’s eyes snapped open and he sat up from his bed in a cold sweat. He took a few shaky breaths, regaining his composure enough to look around the room to note that he was in the hospital. He lay back in bed with a relaxed sigh, until his head turned to the suit of armor that hung up on the wall. He turned his head away immediately. Looking at it stirred so many uncomfortable and painful memories. 

Who even thought it was a good idea for them to keep it around him?

What even happened to him…?

He remembered going to the Rose Tower to meet up with Rose, and then his vision flashed to holding someone over the edge, he saw a little girl, and then he was on the ground with Juliet holding his body-

He pinched his temples annoyingly at how jumbled up his recollection was.

“Oh! You’re awake!” Fennel grinned “How are you feeling? Actually, hold that thought while I go and get you a glass of water-”

“Bring her to the ICU! Quickly!” 

Fennel nearly dropped the glass in surprise from the sudden activity going on outside of Leon’s room. She heard the wheels of a gurney zooming by, along with the shuffling of nurses and doctors who were tending to the patient in the process. Oh dear...She really hoped that they were going to be OK…

Matthew slammed the door open, and he had the most frightened look on his face that Fennel had never seen from him before. 

“M-Matthew? What’s wrong? You look besides yourself-”

“J-Juliet! That was Juliet being transported to ICU!”

“What?!”

Leon’s heart sank. No...Why was she being taken to the ICU? How badly did she get hurt out there? This was all his fault…!

“Juliet’s in the intensive car-” Leon winced, realizing he couldn’t get out of his bed because of the IV that was stuck in his arm. 

“Leon, you have to stay put! I’ll be right back!” Matthew ordered before running down the hall and around the corner to the ICU, where a sizable crowd had already gathered. He couldn’t recognize most of them, but based on the jerseys they wore, they were likely Gym Leaders of the Galar region. He noticed a trainer, closer to the front, sobbing uncontrollably in the arms of what must have been a friend and looking more closely now, everyone who had gathered were fighting back tears of their own.

All of them must have cared so much for her, maybe even more than he did, which made his heart _ache._

“W-Why? Why does life have to be so hard on Juliet?! Every day she fought to live no matter how hard it was for her, and even when she was suffering, she always cared about all of us! How is that fair for her?!” Mary sobbed. “We can’t lose her! I don’t want to lose her…!”

Tessu nor Vanquil could even speak - they were too choked up beyond words and could only hold on to Mary and each other in a desperate attempt to soothe their shared anguish. Raihan couldn’t help but join their circle of solidarity, feeling partially responsible for not getting there on time, and vividly recalling how Juliet thrashed about in his arms despite her eyes being firmly shut, as if she was stuck in a nightmare. “I’m sorry...I should have gotten there sooner…”

Kabu gave Raihan a firm pat on the back. “You did what you could, Raihan. The doctors are with her now.”

“Excuse me everyone. I’m a doctor here-” Matthew announced quietly, squeezing himself through the crowd and was about to open the door when another doctor walked out with his hands up.

“Whoa, whoa! I don’t recall requesting back up.”

“I-I’m sorry. But, I just want to confirm that the patient in this unit is Juliet?”

“Are you a family member of hers?”

“...I am. I’m her older brother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in the update! I did some major revisions and rewrites that took up more time than I thought it would!
> 
> I feel like I've put Juliet through the wringer of escaping death multiple times like Ash Ketchum lmao
> 
> Love ending these chapters with a cliffhanger or feeling of uncertainty hee hee!
> 
> As always, thanks for reading this chapter and please leave a comment and or kudos if you'd like!


	27. Dip Into Your Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The past never truly goes away.

**Chapter 21: Dip Into Your Memories**

****

* * *

“You’re...you’re Juliet’s brother?” Mary repeated shakily. Matthew nodded slowly, flinching upon feeling the glares from Vanquil and Tessu that were stabbing in his chest. He closed his eyes and breathed heavily through his nose.

So...she must have told them. And, could he blame her? He was an awful older brother and there was never a day that went by where he didn’t beat himself up for not doing more, for not reaching out, when Juliet needed a support system the most. He couldn’t forget how shocked and angry he was when he heard that their parents had given up on her and their relatives in Lavaridge Town ended up taking her in. Bless their hearts for doing so, but he should have done more too. If he didn’t follow his parents orders to become a doctor let alone succeed at it, would he have been in a similar place as his sister?

No. This wasn’t about him. He already had enough of that growing up. The praise and attention he received growing up wasn’t worth it if it meant his sister had to suffer in the process. Matthew wasn’t expecting any forgiveness or redemption from Juliet or her friends.

He just wanted to help. And he was going to fight for his sister’s life and well-being – something he should have done a long time ago.

“With all due respect, especially as a fellow doctor, I can’t allow you in because we don’t know the cause of-” The doctor began, before a gut wrenching scream rang through the air, followed by nurses and doctors frantically trying to restrain Juliet’s thrashing body.

“Did we apply a sedative?!”

“We did already and there’s no point in applying another dose when she’s already unconscious!”

“Hurry! Gather the restraints!”

“Munna! Musharna, wait!” Dr. Fennel called after the two dream eater Pokemon, who charged into the unit and began to suck in what looked to be dark mist from Juliet’s body. Gradually, her body began to settle as more mist got absorbed from her, making the nurses and doctors breathe a sigh of relief. Munna and Musharna pulled away, looking rather fatigued and stressed from the rather...unappetizing meal. 

“Wha...What was that?” Sonia blinked.

“I’m so sorry about that! Munna and Musharna can smell dreams and nightmares from far away and normally they don’t go for the latter!” Dr. Fennel caressed both Pokemon soothingly. “But, in this case, they must have done it because they could tell that Juliet is in danger. May I take a look at her?”

“U-Um-”

“Now’s not the time to get hung over protocol - we’re here to save a young woman’s life, right?”

The doctor finally stepped aside, letting her through to the ICU to inspect Juliet’s body more closely. Her body was glistening with sweat, and though her body wasn’t squirming out of control, her eyebrows were knitted together, like she was in constant pain. But there were no visible injuries or wounds on her body, except for the minor cuts she had on her face. Fennel looked to Munna and Musharna again, who nodded at her in confirmation. 

“I strongly believe that Juliet is trapped in an inescapable nightmare, so please, let me handle this.”

“Are you sure? I mean, I’ve never heard of a case of that happening before-”

“Well, I have. I’m not a dream researcher and scientist for nothing! Matthew, your assistance please-”

“Right away-”

“Hang on, I don’t feel comfortable with this. A least not comfortable with him.” Vanquil hissed. 

“I know what you’re thinking, and I don’t blame you at all if you hate me. Our parents treated her so unfairly and I...I didn’t do anything. I’m not looking for pity or forgiveness, but if I have the power to help her, then I’m going to use it.” Matthew explained with conviction before dismissing the other doctors in the room to begin the dream diagnostics with Dr. Fennel. Dr. Fennel healed up both Munna and Musharna before turning to the group that were gathered outside of the ICU.

“I’m sorry, but we’re going to be closing the doors now. Leave the rest to us.”

The rest of Raid Prism and the Gym Leaders waited with bated breath for the results of the diagnostic and whether Juliet was going to be able to wake up or...not.

“Leon! What the hell are you doing out of your room?!” Raihan shouted, rushing over to his side to take over Gloria’s side of helping him walk. Leon was looking worse for wear, but he couldn’t stay put in bed after what Hop and Gloria had told him about Juliet, and how she protected them both from Darkrai’s attack.

“How is she...?” Leon asked hoarsely, ignoring Raihan’s initial question.

None of the Gym Leaders could look at him, which made Leon’s mind jump to the worst case scenario. His heart dropped.

“No...She isn’t-”

“Relax, mate. She’s not dead. They’re trying to figure out what’s wrong. Something about a dream diagnostic.” Raihan reassured him.

“Dream diagnostic?”

“A Pokemon scientist specializing in dreams that Juliet was trying to meet a while back is taking a look at her. Along with...her brother.” Mary muttered.

“Her brother?! Wait, now that I think about it, one of the doctors who took care of me looked like her...” Leon gasped. He thought she didn’t have any touch with him nor did it seem like he had any positive presence in her life. Why did he show up  _ now _ of all times?! It felt wrong, letting someone from her old family who didn’t show any care for her, suddenly show up without her even knowing-

“Easy there, big guy. I don’t know what the deal is with Juliet’s brother and by the looks on your faces, I’m guessin’ it’s not anythin’ good. But, the guy seemed remorseful so let’s just let him and Dr. Fennel do their jobs.” Piers added, putting himself between Leon and the door to Juliet’s room, since it looked like the Champion was going to bust through the hospital room.

Leon had no choice but to relax, not like he could afford to spend any more of his energy due to his injuries. But in that moment, he felt more powerless than he did before. On top of not being able to stand up against Eternatus, leaving the job to his brother and friend, he couldn’t even protect the woman that meant so much to him. He didn’t even get a chance to apologize for the bitterness he said that tore through their friendship.

And...if she couldn’t wake up, he would never get that chance.

One-sided feelings of longing be damned – Leon wanted nothing more than for her to wake up and be  _ OK. _

“Ah, I had a feeling you’d all be here.” Cynthia greeted with a polite bow of her head. In the presence of such an acclaimed Champion and Pokemon researcher, everyone in the room straightened their backs and even Leon felt a little embarrassed because of his condition.

“Champion Cynthia. I’m sorry we couldn’t meet under better circumstances.”

“Don’t apologize, Champion Leon. You should be resting, no?”

“I know but...” Leon smiled sadly. “I can’t rest knowing Juliet isn’t well.”

“How is she, by the way? Or rather, what exactly happened? When all the Dynamaxed Pokemon suddenly reverted back to normal, and the rest of us returned to the meet up spot to check everyone’s status, I heard she left abruptly in the direction of Hammerlocke from Blue.” Cynthia pondered. Hop and Gloria glanced at each other knowingly before nodding to each other and stepping forward to the Champion of Sinnoh.

“Juliet...She came to protect us.” Gloria started quietly.

“After Gloria caught Eternatus, there was something else that...came out of it. Brendan tried to catch him but he swatted the Ultra Ball away. He looked like it was in real pain and when we tried to see if he was OK, he raised it’s hand at us and readied an attack. It all happened so fast but the next thing we knew, Juliet was lying on the ground in front of us...” Hop clenched his fists and bit back the tears that were pooling in his eyes.

“It’s our fault that Juliet can’t wake up now...If we had been more careful, she didn’t have to-” Gloria let out a sob before sinking to her knees and wept with her head down. Seeing his best friend cry, opened the floodgates of Hop’s own tears. He kept muttering, ‘I’m so sorry Juliet’ or ‘I’m so sorry, Lee’ which made Cynthia’s eyes soften in sympathy. She knelt down to Gloria’s level and placed a hand on her shoulder while gingerly taking one of Hop’s hands.

“Please don’t blame yourselves for what happened. You two have incredibly big hearts to want to reach out to a Pokemon in need, and whoever this Pokemon is, I’m sure they didn’t mean to hurt Juliet.”

“H-How would you know?”

“Because, I know what Pokemon you’re talking about. Darkrai, correct?” Cynthia smiled wryly at the reactions she elicited from her response, which ranged from dropped jaws or widened eyes. She wasn’t a Pokemon researcher and expert in mythology for nothing.

“How much do you know about Darkai, Miss Cynthia?” Tessu asked.

“Please tell us!” Vanquil pleaded.

“I’m more than happy to share the knowledge that I know of him, but I think we’ll learn a lot more if we talk to Darkrai ourselves. If he’s conscious that is.” Cynthia offered. The remaining members of Raid Prism didn’t need to be told twice and agreed to go with her to talk to Darkrai. Hop and Gloria agreed to tag along as well, still feeling partially responsible for what happened. And of course, Sonia wanted to get to the bottom of why a Pokemon was ‘merged’ with Eternatus and what effects it might have left on Darkrai after being pulled apart from it.

“You going to go with them, mate?” Raihan asked Leon. The Champion shook his head and pressed his hand up against the glass that peered into Juliet’s room. Seeing how she was basically strapped down to the bed to prevent her from thrashing about too much, stabbed at his heart.

She looked like she was in so much pain. And there was nothing he could do.

* * *

He did it again.

He did the very thing he swore to himself that he wouldn’t do ever again.

And...it had to be her. It had to be Juliet.

Hadn’t he been tortured enough, hadn’t he suffered enough from his previous sin? He thought he could finally move on after accepting his fate as a Pokemon that the world would shun until the end of time.

But, a selfish human just had to use him for some sick twisted attempt to ‘save’ the future of the Galar region. It was clear that even if someone cared about him, they only wanted to use him as a weapon.

Darkrai was so tired. So tired of how the world treated him.

Was this his punishment for just wanting some sort of connection? Was it a crime for him to want...a friend?

What was the point of living if his power brought nothing but pain and suffering?

“Hello, Darkrai.” Cynthia greeted politely. Darkrai refused to face her, opting to keep his head lowered towards the corner of the chamber he was locked up in. Even if he wanted to leave, he couldn’t.

**“...What do you want?”**

“Nothing really. We just want to talk to you and to check if you’re alright.”

**“Does it look like I’m alright?”**

“...No. I suppose not. I can’t imagine what it is you’ve been through, Darkrai, and I don’t think you deserved any of it.”

**“How can you be so sure? What do you know about me and all the unforgivable things I’ve done?! You humans are all the same – friendly at first, but only because you have ulterior motives.”** Darkrai spat coldly.

Cynthia frowned at that. The mythical Pokemon wasn’t exactly wrong. The information she did know about Darkrai were things heard in passing and what was documented, but each piece of info biased for their own reasons. It was hard to form another opinion when she had already grown to believe certain things from what she learned, but part of her passion as a researcher was her desire to understand and be objective as possible. Darkrai deserved to tell his side of the story just as much as anyone else.

Sometimes things weren’t what they seemed at first.

“...You’re right, Darkrai. I don’t know anything about you besides what I’ve read. But, despite that, I want to hear what you have to say. I know it’s hard to trust humans after everything that’s happened but please, if you could tell us anything, we can save Juliet with your help-”

**“Save?! You should already know by now that the only way for anyone to wake up from my nightmares unleashed on a night of a new moon is with a Lunar Wing. I can’t save anyone.”**

“There has to be another way!” Mary suddenly cried out, startling Tessu and Vanquil especially. “You...You don’t really think that humans are all bad, do you? After all, didn’t you spend so many nights just talking to Juliet? You...wanted to be her frien-”

**“SHUT UP!”** Darkrai lashed out, unleashing a Shadow Ball towards Mary. Luckily, the chamber was built with absolute maximum security in mind, so the attack ended up dissipating against the glass, unscathed.

**“Why...Aren’t you cross with me?! Don’t you want me to go away?! I** **_hurt_ ** **someone you care about!”**

“We just want to understand Darkrai!” Mary sobbed, feebly banging her fist against the glass. “Juliet...she told us so much about your talks and...at first she seemed bothered and annoyed, but after awhile, she started to enjoy her time. Talking to you...”

“You don’t realize how sad she was when you left...Like, it was her fault for not being able to help YOU. You two may not be the same, but you both know what loneliness feels like. And, it’s OK to want someone’s company, regardless of who you are. She just wanted to be there for you.” Tessu sniffled.

“Please answer us honestly; you didn’t mean to hurt Juliet, right?” Vanquil asked.

Darkrai felt his shoulders slack, as if he was finally too tired to put up a fight anymore. She...She enjoyed his company? And enjoyed their talks as much as he had? No, he wasn’t going to be swayed! He was only going to hurt her in the end and that’s-

“Darkrai...You were in pain, weren’t you?” Hop uttered.

“When you were finally free from that Pokemon, you reached out to us and said ‘help me’.” Gloria added. “And then, we could tell you were struggling so much, like you were fighting yourself, and when you tried to attack us and then...” She shook her head furiously. “We saw with our own two eyes that you never wanted to hurt us. You never wanted to hurt anyone. But, the way the Chairman treated you...it’s not your fault!”

Darkrai was at a loss for words, surrounded by teary-eyed humans who were desperately trying to reach out to him, trying to empathize with his pain.

A gesture that he didn’t know he really needed.

They wanted to save their precious friend. And he wanted to save her too, even if he still didn’t forgive himself for what he had done.

**“I...I’ll help you.”** He said finally.

“You will?!” They exclaimed with hopeful eyes.

**“Yes, but I don’t know how much help I’ll be so, I’m so-...I’ll do my best.”**

Cynthia smiled and turned to Sonia, who approached the control panel in front of the chamber to let him out. “It’s nice to meet you, Darkrai! I’m Sonia. If it’s not any trouble, may I ask you some questions?”

* * *

“Dr. Fennel, you should really rest your Pokemon. Her condition is finally stable, but we don't want to overwhelm them with nightmare mist.” Matthew strongly suggested. Both Munna and Musharna looked utterly exhausted from draining as much of Juliet’s nightmares as they could and it was getting to the point where it would be too dangerous for either of them to take any more.

“R-Right. Thank you for all your hard work you two and please get plenty of rest.” Dr. Fennel thanked them before returning them to their Pokeballs. Looking over Juliet’s vitals and current condition, even though her heart rate was stable, she could tell that the activity in her brain waves were fluctuating in ways that were alarming.

She was in a deep sleep, but her mind was getting out of control to the point where she was very well going down the road of potentially losing all of her cognitive control over her body. In other words, if they couldn’t get her mind under control in time, she was going to be in a vegetative state for the rest of her life. Matthew probably came to the same conclusion based on the concern in his eyes.

“What should we do?” Fennel asked. Matthew’s lips pursed into a tight line and he rubbed his fingers against his forehead in deep thought. Cognitive science wasn’t his area of expertise, but he wasn’t clueless on the various drugs that existed that helped with brain function and the like. The problem is, would they even work in this scenario? The patient was experiencing a never-ending nightmare, preventing her from regaining consciousness – it was a much more complex problem that he didn’t want to risk by throwing a drug at it and her experiencing potential side effects that could worsen her condition.

“Oh, Champion Cynthia! What are you doing here?” Fennel gaped as she walked into the room with Sonia.

“Sonia and I believe we have a plan on how to save Juliet.” Cynthia replied, looking over to Sonia to let her take over. Walking over to Juliet’s bedside, Sonia held up the device she used to track Dynamax levels for her research, over Juliet and just as she theorized, the device went off.

“Just as I suspected. This is going to sound a bit outlandish but, I’m picking up Dynamax readings within Juliet.”

“What?!” Matthew and Fennel gasped in unison. “How is that possible?!”

“After talking with Darkrai and hearing his account of everything he remembered, during his fusion with Eternatus, some of the power of Dynamax must have also merged within Darkrai himself. After being freed from Eternatus, that power of Dynamax he had, became unstable to the point where it was physically hurting him. The attack he unleashed must have been him trying to get rid of that power all together. I also have some working theories on how this ties in to what happened with Leon, but I need to talk to Gran first.” Sonia explained.

“So, that power must have transferred to Juliet instead.” Matthew concluded.

“Exactly. But, because humans can’t Dynamax, the power has nowhere to go, and the fact that Darkrai was the one to unleash it on the night of a new moon, that power is basically trapped in the inescapable nightmare with her.”

“And what happens if that power is with her for too long...?” Fennel asked with dread.

“I don’t know...I’ve never encountered or read anything like this. I think it’s safe to assume that it wouldn’t be good.” Sonia answered regrettably.

“But, this is where the solution comes in. If Juliet can’t get out of the nightmare by herself, and it would take who knows how long to track down Cresselia to get a Lunar Wing, then the only option left is to go into the nightmare and break her out of it.” Cynthia ushered Raid Prism and Leon into the hospital room and sent out a Hypno that she had transferred from her personal collection of Pokemon from Sinnoh.

“Wait, hang on. I don’t know how safe this is. I’ve experimented with transferring Pokemon to Pokemon through dreams, but with humans?” This was completely outside of what was considered allowed in terms of experimenting. There were already so many ethical concerns that Fennel had to face when dealing with Pokemon that dealing with human subjects would be considered illegal.

**“Please...Allow us to at least try...”** Darkrai begged, merging from the ground.  **“I caused this, and I need to take responsibility for it.”**

“D-D-Darkrai?! I’d never thought I’d get to see one in person! What an incredible discovery!” Fennel beamed, before coughing to regain her composure. Now was hardly the time to get excited when someone’s life was at stake.

“I mean, of course. I understand your feelings. But, please be careful. We’re treading new territory and we have no idea what effect this may have on Juliet.” Fennel warned before gathering all the necessary equipment before letting Hypno do his thing of sending everyone into Juliet’s dreams. That’s when all of her Pokemon burst from their Pokeballs and clamoured over to the scientist, all of them pleading to be hooked up as well.

“I-I’m sorry, I can’t send all of you in. It’d be too dangerous if there were too many outside interferences. I can send in only three of you.”

Juliet’s Pokemon all looked at each other before talking amongst themselves on who was going to go in and who was going to stay behind to look after her in the real world. Hajime, Tiki, and Odin all came forward while her remaining Pokemon crowded around their unconscious trainer in support. Hilda whined sadly as she wrapped her ribbon feelers around her arm, hoping she could send some of her fairy energy to Juliet. Takumi and Hubert stared silently, but praying to themselves for her swift recovery. Soleil found a spot by her bedside and started to dance with her pom poms to cheer her on as she slept. Flora rested her chin on her bed, watching her with sorrowful eyes while Felix stood at the foot of her bed with his arms crossed, acting as some sort of bodyguard for her. 

“Leon, are you sure about this? I mean, you’re not in good shape either-” Raihan fussed.

“I am. I have to do this. If this...If this is my only chance to apologize to her, than I need to go-”

“Leon! Don’t talk like we’re going to fail! We’re going to save her, no matter what!” Tessu retorted.

“...You’re right. We’ll bring her back. Dr. Fennel, we’re ready when you are.” Leon nodded with determination burning in his eyes. Fennel quickly double checked everyone before allowing Hypno to stand in front of them.

**“I will go ahead and enter Juliet’s dream and make sure everyone has arrived safely.”** Darkrai announced, hovering over her body and disappearing. Matthew quickly glanced at the various monitors to check for any spike in anomalies over her condition, but luckily there were none. He nodded to the Hypno, who began to swing his pendulum back and forth in front of their eyes. Slowly, their eyes grew heavy and their consciousness began to slip away with each swing...

Until...

**“Open your eyes...”**

Their eyes snapped open, looking around to see that they were no longer in Juliet’s hospital room, but instead, lying in the field of silver grass. However, rather than the sky being lit up with stars, it was shrouded in dark, swirling red clouds that forebode an impending storm. It was a lot less peaceful and serene than what Darkrai remembered, which served as an ominous reminder of the turmoil that Juliet was facing at the moment.

“Darkrai, is this...?” Vanquil trailed off.

**“Yes, we’re in Juliet’s dreams. Normally I’d be able to locate her but...this energy surrounding this place...”** Darkrai shuddered.  **“It’s the same feeling I experienced when I was held captive and fused with Eternatus. It’s conflicting with my ability to pinpoint where she is...”**

“What should we do?” Mary asked fearfully.

“Raichu!” Odin wandered over to Leon and pointed at his glowing pocket. Leon followed Odin’s gaze and curiously pulled out the object that was flickering with a gentle blue glow.

“A Heart Scale?” Tessu noted.

“...Yeah. Back when my family and I returned from our vacation in Hoenn, Juliet gave it to me for good luck, and I promised to return it to her when we’d see each other again.” Leon explained fondly. “It’s long overdue but...I was planning on finally giving it back to her.”

The Heart Scale suddenly lit up, sending out a shock wave that revealed a path of stars that trailed through the field of silver grass, like a guide of where to go. The only lead they had was to follow the path of stars, and off they went across the field until the trail of stars abruptly stopped at a random spot of dirt amidst the grass.

“Maybe...there’s something buried?” Upon hearing that, Tiki flew over and began clawing through the dirt until her claws hit something metallic-like. Carefully, she brushed away the surrounding dirt before pulling out the familiar trophy that was burrowed in the ground. Odin and Hajime inspected the trophy too and nodded in agreement.

**“...They say that’s Juliet’s Hoenn League Championships trophy.”**

“Her trophy?! What’s it doing buried in the ground?” Tessu gawked. Mary brought her hand up to her chest, thinking deeply about the implications of why the trophy was buried away based on everything that Juliet had told them before about her experience with being a Champion.

Juliet was  _ literally _ burying that part of her past away, along with her previous accomplishments.

Before Mary could vocalize those thoughts, the scene around them began to shift, warping out of shape before settling into an environment of inside of a house. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the house itself, but the scene that played in front of them, was anything but.

* * *

_ “...Dad? What are you doing with my trophy?” Juliet asked nervously. Her father stared at his own reflection on the surface of the golden trophy before tossing it carelessly at her feet, clearly not caring if it broke or got damage as a result. _

_ “W-What? Be careful with my stuff-” _

_ “Does it matter? You’re not a Champion anymore. You have no more  honour to bring to this family.” _

_ “...Are you serious? I get only one chance and that’s it?!” Juliet argued in disbelief. _

_ “No, of course not. But, now that you learned things the hard way, it’s time you started seeing the reality of everything. If you had just listened to me in the first place, none of this would have happened. And yet, you continued to be  foolish . Now look at what happened.” Her father continued, not holding back the poison that was spewing out of his mouth and withering away her self-worth. _

_ “...I see how it is now...” She muttered shakily, eyes burning with tears of frustration and despair over how she was being treated. “You were never proud of me. You and mom just wanted to brag about my accomplishments to family and even strangers so you could feel better about  yourselves .” _

_ “Watch your tone, young lady!” Her father barked. _

_ “Make me! Why should I listen to what YOU have to say?! I’m not a trophy that you can just show off to people! I’m just a kid!” Juliet cried out furiously. “If you or mom had been more caring about what I was going through-” _

_ “What, you wanted to be coddled and pampered? You’re not a  baby! ” _

_ “What’s wrong with being upset about the way people have been treating me?! Is it so wrong to want someone to comfort me?! Haven’t you ever been  sad before?!” _

_ “Of course I have! But, I just suck it up and get over it – something that  you don’t seem to know how to do!” _

_ That was the breaking point for her. It was so painfully obvious that her father wasn’t going to show any support or care about her feelings. And she doubted her mom would as well. She wasn’t going to get anywhere or be happy in this awful household that she no longer viewed as home. In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to disappear. _

_ But, even then, she clung on her love for her Pokemon to keep her grounded, no matter how dark the situation got. This wasn’t her home anymore, but she knew where she could go. _

_ “...If that’s how you really feel, then I have no place here anymore. Don’t you dare come looking for me, and don’t you dare...” Juliet glared at her father icily. “Don’t you dare call me  your child.” _

* * *

They all stood there, shocked and horrified at the vile scene that played out in front of their very eyes. Seeing the memory in her perspective only amplified the anger and sorrow that bubbled inside of them, ready to burst at any moment.

They could feel everything as if those emotions were their own.

“She...She always told us about how her dad had treated her...” Vanquil seethed through clenched teeth.

“But, that was just...” Mary dropped to her knees, feeling weighed down by the immense feeling of sadness for her best friend. She couldn’t even finish her sentence because no words could describe just how horrible it was. Juliet’s Pokemon hung their heads in shame; they knew the depths of their trainer’s anguish but they hadn’t seen the event that caused it. All they could do was stay by her side no matter what and comfort her as best as they could in hopes that she would eventually get better and move on.

But, even after all this time, that anguish didn’t fade away completely.

Tessu noticed how down the Pokemon looked and caressed each of them reassuringly. “Cheer up you three. You did all that you could to be there for Juliet and if anything, she was probably able to keep on living because of you. I’m sure she appreciates and loves you guys from the bottom of her heart.”

That made Odin wail into waterfalls of tears, much to the slight amusement of Hajime and Tiki, who crowded around the Alolan Raichu to comfort him.

Leon hadn’t realized just how hard he was clenching his hands that he ended up digging through his palms and breaking the skin. It was...incomprehensible for anyone to be so  _ cold and heartless _ towards their own child who was only trying her best. Where the hell did her dad get such messed up standards from? And to expect a kid to uphold them?

_ It was ludicrous and unbelievable. _

He felt so stupid, so ignorant to the fact that he never truly understood the gravity of how abusive her childhood really was.

But, the desire to save her only grew stronger and stronger, and now more than ever, he wanted her to get the happy ending that she deserved.

The Heart Scale lit up again, revealing another path of stars from the Championships trophy.

“Let’s go, everyone. We’re going to save her.” Leon recalled with conviction. The others nodded in understanding before picking themselves back up to follow the next trail of stars. What could they possibly see next that would be worse, or hopefully better, than what they just saw? The path of stars led them from the field of silver grass, to the field of forget-me-nots. Sitting in the centre of the field, and where the trail ended, was a piece of paper. Mary carefully picked up the neatly folded paper, unfolded it, and her eyes widened.

“This is...an adoption form.”

And then the scene shifted again, and they stood inside of a different house this time. Specifically, someone’s room that was filled with unopened moving boxes.

* * *

_ “Juliet, sweetie, I brought you dinner.” Tiffany called over softly, holding a tray of spaghetti, soup, a tall glass of orange juice, and a cup of pudding – all of which Juliet loved. But, she said nothing, absently stroking Odin's back as he napped on her lap. Her aunt frowned but then smiled gently. She gently placed the tray of food on her desk before approaching her niece quietly and sat next to her. _

_ “...Come here, sweetie.” _

_ Hesitantly, Juliet shakily reached out to her aunt and buried her face into her shirt. She sniffled, she choked back a sob, before wailing uncontrollably in her aunt’s arms. She should be happy that she was in a better home, that she got away from  that house. But, that didn’t magically erase the feeling of failure of not just her reign as Champion, but for everyone she let down. _

_ Starting over and not knowing what to do next, terrified her. _

_ It still felt like she didn’t belong anywhere . _

_ “Shh...Shh...let it out, sweetie.” Tiffany cooed. “I won’t let anyone or anything hurt you like that ever again...” _

_ “B-But...so many people are still calling me a loser, a wimp, a fake! What did I do wrong...Why did it turn out like this?!” Juliet sobbed. _

_ Tiffany held her tighter. She...She unfortunately didn’t have an answer to that. And she wished she did, because there was no excuse in the world that could allow people, and her own parents, to beat her to the ground. Absolutely no one deserved that. _

_ “I...I don’t know, sweetie. But, I do know that you didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t know where those awful people came from or why they thought it was OK to say the things they did, but we’re going to help you, love you, care for you. It’ll be hard, but your uncle, your cousin, myself, and your Pokemon – we all believe that you can move forward. And we’ll be with you every step of the way.” Tiffany pulled back a little to cup her niece’s face and to wipe away her tears. _

_ “I’m proud of you, Juliet. Despite everything you’ve been through, you’re still here, fighting to be happy again. That’s incredible, sweetie.” _

_ “I just...” Juliet hiccuped. “I-I don’t want to give up. I want to be happy again.” _

_ “And you will, I have no doubt about that.” Tiffany brought over her dinner and set it down in her lap. She scooped up a spoonful of soup, lightly blowing over it, before holding it up to Juliet’s mouth. She pouted. _

_ “I-I can feed myself.” _

_ “I know, but I want to make sure you eat every last bit. You haven’t eaten your breakfast or lunch! Let your aunt spoil you just this once, OK?” _

_ “...OK.” _

* * *

The scene slowly disappeared and they were back in the flowery field. They all let out a collective sigh of relief, from the must happier and uplifting memory.

Juliet’s adoption paper sitting out in the open in a field of forget-me-nots. A precious promise that she would never forget her aunt’s unconditional act of love and kindness of taking her in and taking care of her as if she was her own daughter.

“We only met her aunt once at her birthday party, but she treated us kindly on that day. She really is a wonderful person like Juliet had described her to be.” Tessu remarked fondly.

“And didn’t she say that her aunt took her around the world to cheer her up and lift up her spirits?” Vanquil added.

“She did and I’m so glad it helped. It must have felt so liberating for her to see the world and be free from being trapped in her own home.” Mary smiled before turning to Leon. “At some point when she started working for her aunt to help her out as thanks, that’s when you came in, right Leon?”

Leon chuckled sheepishly. “Yeah. The Chairman was overworking me to the point where my mom put her foot down and demanded that I get a vacation to relax and spend time with my family. Those were...probably the best two weeks of my life...”

“...You really love her, huh?” Tessu teased lightly. Leon flushed heavily, but nodded.

“I do. Which is why I want to make things right with her. Even if she can’t remember the Leon from back then, she’s still the same compassionate person that I fell in love with and...I’ll always feel that way.”

“Awwwwww...” Mary and Tessu cooed, making the Champion more flustered over baring his honest and passionate feelings out so openly.

“Hey, Darkrai, you’ve been kind of quiet. Are you OK?” Vanquil asked.

**“I apologize for not contributing to the conversation. I don’t...quite understand some of the ways that humans think and act so it feels more appropriate to observe.”** Darkrai floated around the area, as if he was looking for something. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he felt another presence. It wasn’t Juliet’s but...it was a presence he hadn’t felt in a long time. It felt...nostalgic, playful even, but where was it coming from?

The Heart Scale shone brighter this time and slipped out of Leon’s hands, and floated over to where Darkrai was standing. Somehow, the space in front of him began to crack, revealing a hidden area or room within the space they were already in. There was something deeper within Juliet’s dreamworld and they were only scratching the surface.

**“...Watch your step, everyone.”** Darkrai warned, floating through thin, crumbling, entryway, only to end up in a dark, barren room. Except that it wasn’t barren. There was someone, a little girl, standing in the centre, with her back turned towards them. His eyes widened in realization. There was no mistaking it – he remembered that little girl from his past, and how frequently she haunted his nightmares.

And he recalled seeing her through Leon’s eyes.

**“M-Maya...”**

Maya turned around and she smiled sadly at the Pokemon, while clutching a photo close to her chest.

“Darkrai...”

* * *

“Trapinch!!” Pistachio burst through the door with Courtney chasing after him, but he refused to be taken away as he clawed and cried out for his beloved trainer.

“P-Pistachio, no! You can’t!” Courtney sobbed, scooping him up in her arms. The shiny Trapinch squirmed uncontrollably in her arms, not wanting to leave Juliet’s side. Fennel bent down to comfort the crying baby Pokemon with light caresses to hopefully calm him down.

“There, there. She’s going to be just fine, little one.”

“W-When is she going to wake up?” Courtney asked, tearfully.

“...I-I don’t know, but...everyone is fighting for her, and she’s fighting her hardest as well.” Fennel gently took Pistachio from Courtney’s arms and placed him on Juliet’s lap. “You can stay, but be good, OK?”

Pistachio sniffled, glancing at the ‘I love you’ Pokeball enamel pin on her shirt he picked out for her, before eventually falling asleep. 

“She...She’s going to be OK, right?”

Dr. Fennel lifted up her head to see tearful Tiffany walk into the unit with Dave comforting her from behind. Tiffany broke out into a fit of sobs. This was her fault. It had to be - even thought Juliet was an adult and developed her own independence, she should have checked up on her more. Shower her with love that she vowed to give when she signed Juliet’s adoption papers. Was her love just not enough?

“It should have been me…! Let me suffer in her place…!”

“Mom! Don’t say that!” Courtney cried, throwing her arms around her mother’s waist and burying her face in her shirt. “I should have stayed in Galar just a bit longer! I could have been there for big sis…!”

“You two...please…” Dave sniffled. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine. I was too hard on her that one time…”

“Tiffany, Dave, and Courtney.”

The three of them turned to see Matthew standing in the doorway. Of course, he could have just called them by ‘auntie’ and ‘uncle’ but...it didn’t feel right for him to say that since he still had ties with the family that they’ve cut all contact with. The family that was the root of Juliet’s suffering. “We’re working hard to save her. Not just me and Dr. Fennel.” He gestured to Raid Prism, Leon, and Juliet’s Pokemon, who were fast asleep. “They’re getting to the bottom of it as well.”

“Matthew…” Tiffany whimpered and shakily grabbed both of his hands. “Is there anything we can do at all? Do you need money or-”

Matthew placed his hand on top of hers and shook his head. “No, that won’t be necessary. I’m not like them, believe me - I would never ask that of you. All I ask is that you have faith in her. I think...I think that’s the most important thing she needs right now.”

* * *

_ She felt this coldness before. _

_ This loneliness.  _

_ But no matter how much she wished for it, the scene around her didn’t change. _

_ Floating, or maybe sinking, into a darkness like no other.  _

_ She didn’t struggle, but she could still breathe, even though she was certain that she was surrounded by water. _

_ She looked up, gazing at the light breaking through the surface, offering little respite to what felt like a watery prison of her own heart. _

_ She reached out, feebly wondering if a hand would breach through the water and pull her back to the light. _

_ But nothing came. _

_ She was alone. _

* * *

**“...I thought I sensed someone else with Juliet over the years, but I didn’t think it was you....”**

“Hee hee, well, I wasn’t able to show myself when you were around…” Maya replied sheepishly. “...I didn’t want to upset you.”

**“How...How are you even here…? You died....because of me…”** Darkrai said faintly, struggling with his regret. Maya looked down at her shoes, hands behind her back as she tried to recall how exactly she found herself in Juliet’s consciousness. 

“I remember waking up in my house, but no one was living in it anymore.. I couldn’t find mommy or daddy, and I couldn’t even leave the house. I...I didn’t know I was dead until befriending some of the Ghost Pokemon that were making themselves at home since no one else was around.” Maya started. “And then one day, a girl rushed in. I think it was storming outside and she was looking for a place to stay. What do I do? I didn’t want to scare her! But then, when she turned around in my direction, she looked at me. Like, she could see me! And that’s when, I saw you, inside of her.”

Maya clutched her head. “I...I can’t remember what happened after that but the next thing I knew, I wasn’t in my house anymore. It was dark and I couldn’t see anything. But, I could hear a voice. Juliet’s voice. I think from seeing you again, Darkrai, you pulled me in.”

**“...I apologize. I didn’t mean to.”**

“It’s OK! It hasn’t been all that bad. Even if I’m not alive anymore, I got to see what Juliet does during the day, and play with her when she sleeps! So, it’s not lonely!”

“But,” Mary chimed in. “I-If you’re a ghost then, that means you have...unfinished business here, right?”

“Hmmm, I think so! But...I don’t really want to leave, not yet.” Maya pleaded. Alive or not, she was still a child, who wanted nothing more than to keep playing for as long as she could. After all, this was the most fun she had ever had! Who knows if she’ll be able to experience the joys of ‘living’ outside of being bedridden, again. 

It was selfish, but she wanted to believe she still deserved more. 

“Oh! Prince Charming!” Maya beamed, running up to Leon with sparkling eyes. Leon blinked at the title. Prince Charming? Him? Though he wouldn’t argue that he was charming, but a real prince? Hardly. 

“Me? I’m not-”

“But, you act like a prince! So kind, so courageous…” Maya fawned over. “I’m glad I got to finally meet Juliet’s Prince Charming!”

Leon’s face burned brightly at the blunt remark, but even he couldn’t help but imagine the implications for a brief moment, which involved both of them dressed in regal clothing while holding hands and-

“Hey, Maya, what’s that thing you’re holding?” Tessu asked, graciously switching the subject for Leon’s sake. Maya immediately jumped back defensively, keeping her distance as she clutched the photo tighter in her hands. Whatever the photo was, she clearly didn’t want to give it up or even show what it depicted. 

“It’s nothing! It’s mine! I won’t let you take it!” Maya yelled.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! We’re not going to take it away from you. We just want to see it, that’s all!”

_ “No!” _

**“...Maya.”** Darkrai floated over to her and outstretched his hand.  **“What’s wrong? You seem distressed by something.”**

“I...I just…” The little girl sniffled. “Juliet’s so lucky. She can go out and do whatever she wants and she has so many people who care about her, but what about me? I love my mommy and daddy but...there was so much I wanted to do! The doctors already told me I didn’t have much time left because I was sick but why me…?”

It was so unfair, She just wanted to live like everyone else, to be happy like everyone else. But, here she was, feebly hoping that by taking Juliet’s most precious memory, she could have a piece of happiness that she could call her own. 

“Maya,” Mary knelt down to the little girl’s level. “Back when you were alive, did you have fun?”

“...Huh?”

“You love your mom and dad, right? Which meant they loved you too. Did they play with you?”

“T-They were really busy but....They always tried to spend time with me and even if they couldn’t, Darkrai was always there for me…” Maya recounted, looking up to Darkrai with a small smile. Darkrai couldn’t help but run one of his ghostly, pitch black hands carefully on her head, something he used to do frequently all those years ago. 

“That sounds lovely. Those memories, they’re precious to you, right?” Mary nodded. 

“Yes! Thinking about them makes me happy.”

“And, you wouldn’t want someone to take them away, would you?”

Maya froze. “...No. I wouldn’t like that. They’re my memories.”

“Then, how do you think Juliet feels with you keeping some of her memories? Do you think she’s happy?”

Slowly realizing and understanding what Mary was getting at, Maya’s gaze dropped to the floor as guilt began to dawn on her. She...She never thought of it like that. Even if Juliet had more memories than she did, all of them meant something to her, even the bad ones. 

Those memories belong to Juliet. This  _ life _ belongs to Juliet. 

As much as it hurt, as much as she wanted to stay, her parents, her family, were still waiting for her. Somewhere. And she didn’t want to keep them waiting any longer. 

“...I’m...I’m sorry…” Maya apologized, her tears falling on the photograph she held dearly in her small hands. Mary smiled sympathetically and coaxed her into a warm hug. 

“We know...Even knowing how short your life was, I’m sure you had the most fun you could have had. And, I’m sure Darkrai and your parents had lots of fun too.”

Maya sobbed into Mary’s shirt, then pulled herself from her embrace to hug Darkrai next. Darkrai was taken aback from the affection, but allowed himself to relax and return the tender gesture. He still couldn’t forgive himself for what he did, and who knows if he ever will, but if Maya still had it in her heart to regard him with kindness, maybe, just maybe, he could too.

**“I’m...I’m so sorry for what I did Maya...I let my anger...get the better of me…”**

“I know...but you didn’t mean to, right? You always played with me even if it was past my bedtime. Mommy and daddy were scared of you...but I wasn’t.” Maya hugged him a little tighter. “So...please don’t be sad and hate yourself…”

**“...I’ll try, Maya.”**

Maya grinned widely and handed over the photo to Mary. “...This is what I’ve been keeping from you. One of Juliet’s most treasured memories.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A pretty emotional chapter I would say! It gets even more emotional next week and as weird as this sounds, I hope it bring even just a tear to your eye!
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading this chapter and feel free to leave a kudos and or comment if you'd like!


	28. Memory Chapter III: See you later doesn't mean Good-bye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You know a friend becomes a part of you.

**Memory Chapter III: See you later doesn't mean Good-bye**

****

* * *

“This isn’t what I wanted!”

“But, ma’am, this is the second clean towel that I brought for you-”

The woman swiped the towel from J’s hands, wrinkled it up in her fingers, and shoved it in her face. “When I said clean, I mean _fresh_ . Straight from the dryer. Do you understand, _little_ girl?”

It took a lot of will-power to hold back J’s scowl. Her service-perfect smile twitched annoyingly, that luckily the woman didn’t notice, before bowing her head politely and seeing herself out to go to the laundry room again. When she was sure she was out of earshot, she clicked her tongue and her light steps turned into stomping. 

Who did that lady think she was? Her personal maid? Not to mention she hated being called little. She had enough of a complex towards her height and she could do without being reminded of it. Ugh, she dealt with entitled guests before but this lady and her family were on a whole different level. Her son and daughter were loud, her husband kept spilling wine on the futons (meaning she had to be the one to switch the futons out for clean ones), and the wife herself was some sort of discount evil step-mother AND step-sisters combined. 

Her stomach growled again. She missed breakfast and lunch because of how busy the unruly guests were keeping her, and she didn’t want the other staff members to suffer at the hands of them. She silently told her stomach to hang in there just a bit longer until dinner-time as she retrieved a warm, clean towel from the dryer. J knew she had to get back quick or else the lady was going to whine about how the towel wasn’t warm anymore or something-

She sped walked through the halls of the inn, her heart racing from her anxiety and lack of endurance. On top of not having eaten anything so far, she was barely functioning on any fuel at all. 

Suddenly, she felt light-headed, and her body grew heavy. 

Someone called out to her, making her look up to acknowledge their blurry form that was waving at her in the distance. Nothing came out when she opened her mouth and the last thing she recalled were her legs giving out and falling towards the hardwood floors.

* * *

“J...J!”

She winced at the shouting and tiredly opened her eyes. She recognized the glow-in-the-dark stars that were littered across her ceiling, making her realize quickly that she was laying in her room. She looked to her left to see Lee, letting out a relieved sigh. 

“Thank Arceus you’re OK…”

“What even happened?” J croaked. And that’s when she remembered and jolted up from her bed. “The guest-!”

Pain immediately shot through her head, bringing her back down to her bed. 

“Easy there! You just woke up from fainting!” Lee scolded, bringing the covers up to her chin. He couldn’t help but place the back of his hand against her forehead, something that his mom always did to him and Hop to check if they were sick. “No fever, it seems. That’s a relief.”

“I fainted…?”

“Yeah, you gave your folks quite a scare too.” L scratched his cheek and looked to the side sheepishly. “Actually, they might have freaked out by how loud I yelled.”

“Why were you yelling?” J asked before pressing her fingers around her head, looking for any notable bumps that she may have gotten after falling because of the migraines that pounded in her head every so often. But there was none.

“Because I’m the one that caught you before you fell! I was waving to you since we had just come back from Fortree City and I wanted to tell you about it! And then it looked like you were swaying, then your legs gave out - I panicked, which caught your uncle’s attention thankfully.”

“One of his security Beldums must have noticed and alerted him. No wonder I don’t feel any bumps on my head. Thanks for catching me Lee, and sorry for the trouble-” That’s when her stomach growled again and she became hyper-aware of her persistent hunger that had devolved into hunger pains. “Ugh…”

“Haha, hang on,” Lee got up from her bedside and slid open the door of her bedroom, where J could faintly hear what sounded like shouting not too far away. She grimaced, which didn’t go unnoticed by Lee, who rolled in a cart of food into her room. 

“I’d hate to be the rude guests that are getting an earful from your aunt.” He snickered. 

J sighed. She was no doubt going to be next, granted it was luckily going to be the caring kind of scolding rather than the rage-filled that her aunt rarely showed unless someone was really testing her patience. “Can’t say they don’t deserve it, but I wish it didn’t escalate to this point.”

“Well, she is your aunt, and finding out that some people were giving a dear family member a hard time, I’d be pretty upset too.” Lee sifted through the various dishes on the cart and carefully handed her a bowl of miso soup. “Anyway, your aunt loaded all of his food for you since the paramedics said you likely fainted from pushing yourself too hard-”

J looked between the soup on her lap and back to the cart, then back to her soup. “Wait, all of this is for me?!”

Lee snorted. “Hope you’re hungry.”

“I am, but this is a bit overboard! Did you eat yet? Think you can give me a hand?”

“Don’t mind if I do. By the way, thanks for not kicking me out of your room.”

“I wouldn’t do that unless I had a reason to. But since you helped me, I think you earned it. Although, I don’t have anything special in here.” J chuckled.

Lee looked around, his eyes following the shelves lined with various books, video games, and other trinkets like shells and beach glass. “My childhood-friend Sonia would burn me at the stake if she caught me going into her room. But, you room reminds me of my mentor’s house, Master Mus-”

He caught himself before he finished, but at the cost of him choking on yam tempura he was in the middle of eating. J quickly poured him a glass of water from a pitcher on her night stand and handed it to him, which he proceeded to down in one go. 

Holy crap, that was a close call. 

“I-I mean…”

“Geez, you scared me. I won’t make you say anything if you accidentally let it slip. But, you have a mentor huh? No wonder you’re so good at battling.”

“Something like that. When he’s not training me or his other students, he’s playing video games.” Lee laughed nervously. 

“Huh, so a powerful Pokemon trainer even has time for hobbies, huh? That sounds nice.” J commented wistfully. That was probably what she would have wanted for herself - to be strong and confident, yet being able to live peacefully without constantly being watched by cameras and scrutinized. Whoever this mentor was, he must live a pretty comfortable life. 

“You don’t think strong trainers have hobbies?”

“No, no, it’s not that. I just...being a powerful trainer and under the spotlight seems more trouble than it’s worth. I mean, strong trainers are just people who made it. Constantly being on guard for fans and paparazzi - I don’t know if I’d be able to relax with that kind of pressure.”

Lee tensed up, and he couldn’t help it. She unknowingly struck a nerve at his status and part of him wondered if she was actually insinuating something about him because she knew. But if she did, she wasn’t going to bring it up or make a big deal out of it, which was what he wanted, honestly. “It does seem like it’d be hard to deal with. Not having time for your family, friends, or even yourself at times…”

J noticed how dejected he became and frowned. “Sorry, Lee. Did I stir up something that made you think of unpleasant memories?”

“Not to that extent, but I am feeling a bit sentimental by what you said. It’s nothing you need to apologize for, though! If anything, it makes me happy that you’re so...perceptive to that kind of thing and empathetic about it.” Lee grinned gently. 

“Well, just as you’re hiding a lot of things, I am too. At the end of the day, we’re all going through our own troubles in our lives that makes it hard to be happy. But, something that I’ve learned is that there are people out there who feel just like me and knowing that, I don’t feel so alone. No one is. Even during moments where it feels like the whole world has their back turned towards you, there will always be someone who accepts you for you.” J couldn’t help but giggle at the end of that little tangent. Now she was the one getting a bit sentimental. “So, no matter who you are or who you become, there will be someone who will look at you and see you. Because there’s no one else anyone should try to be, than themselves. It’s OK if you’re hiding things from me Lee, but I want you to know that I accept you, Lee. You could tell me tomorrow that you’re the son of the royal family and I’d still accept you!”

Arceus, why was his face burning up so much and why was his heart pounding against his chest. Lee couldn’t pinpoint what it was he was feeling, but he knew there was something unfamiliar stirring in his chest. It wasn’t unpleasant or painful - it...it honestly tickled a little. Was he the one getting sick now? He didn’t feel ill. If anything, he felt the complete opposite. 

The things she said made him feel stronger, recognized, but not just for his battle prowess, but as himself. The idea of him being the son of the royal family sounded more shocking than him being Champion, and the fact that she admitted to him that she would accept him if that was the case? That melted away all of his fears that he would only be seen for his accomplishments for the rest of his life.

Because she was here to tell him that she was someone who would look at him for who he was. That warm confirmation made him...it made him happy. 

“...Are you OK, Lee? Are you the one coming down with a fever now?”

“It’s nothing!” He squeaked. “I think there was something spicy in this dish just now.”

J looked at his food and raised an eyebrow. “You’re eating ice cream.”

“O-Oh, am I? Then, you should have some too! There’s plenty to go around!”

* * *

“Lee! Let’s ride the ferris wheel!” Hop exclaimed, clutching the large Wooloo stuffed animal that his brother won for him. Courtney bounded after him, carrying a Swablu stuffed animal of her own that J won for her.

“I wanna ride too! Wait for me!”

“Slow down, Hop. The ferris wheel isn’t going anywhere.” Lee chuckled. He turned to J, who was walking next to him while nibbling away on a candy apple. After their battle a week ago, J was like a whole different person. She smiled more, there was an extra spring in her step, and showed more of her playful side to him. It was like...a burden had been lifted from her shoulders, giving her the freedom to act more carefree. 

And what she told him recently...it stirred up a different feeling inside of him.

Something about her new-found cheer made him feel a different kind of happiness. Every smile and every laugh that she sent his way, made his heart hammer in his chest. It wasn’t the same kind of heart-pumping adrenaline he got from battling, nor was it the same as when his heart would pound from stress during an important meeting with his sponsors under the watchful eyes of Chairman Rose.

It was a different kind of exhilaration.

Warm, but _exciting._

“Lee, are you staring at me because you want a bite?” J asked, offering her half-eaten caramel apple to him.

Damn, he wasn’t subtle at all.

“No, it’s not that. You have caramel all over your mouth.”

“Oh!” J giggled sheepishly and fished for a napkin from her handbag. Even her little quirks sent a pleasant tingle through his heart.

...She was _cute._

“By the way, are you really OK after what happened the other day?” Lee asked with concern. 

“I told you, I’m fine now! I made sure to eat all my meals and not overwork myself.” J laughed off lightly. “Thanks for catching me. That must have freaked you out though, so I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you didn’t hit your head or anything-”

“Lee! You and J are taking too long so Courtney and I are going first!” Hop huffed as he helped Courtney into the cart, tossing their Pokemon stuffed animals after her before getting in himself. Once the ferris wheel attendant closed their cart and moved to allow them into the following cart, Lee made a bowing gesture towards the opening.

“Ladies first.”

J snorted and rolled her eyes at his chivalrous behaviour, but played along with him anyway by offering him a small curtsy. Finally, the ferris wheel hummed to life, slowly beginning to rotate and lighting up the night sky with its strobe lights.

The two sat in a comfortable silence, simply enjoying each other's company while they marvelled at the fireworks that started exploding in the sky. Lee’s eyes then wandered back to J. Her smile was relaxed but her cobalt blue eyes reflected the sparks of colour and life that exploded in the sky.

He couldn’t tell if the rumbling of the fireworks were shaking through his core or if his heart was exploding as well.

“Lee.”

He jolted out of his dreamy daze. “Y-Yeah?”

“...Thank you.” She turned away from the window and stared down at her lap thoughtfully. “I went through a lot of things that made me insecure and depressed about who I was. I thought that if I couldn’t keep my parents proud of me, then that was it. I was basically nothing. But...” Closing her eyes, she recalled fondly of her travels with her aunt, and of the past week. 

“I was taking for granted the support that I did have. My aunt, uncle, and even Courtney, always looked at me for what I could do. Not for what they wished I could do, like my parents.” Then, her head raised to look at him with all the gratitude swimming in her gaze. “And after battling you, I felt like I was myself again. I found the courage to do things my way again instead of just being bossed around by the people who looked down on me.”

“J...”

She gently took his hands and clasped them between hers. “Thank you for reigniting my passion and believing in me.”

“...I want to thank you too.” Lee pulled his hands away from her grasp, only to lace their fingers together. J’s eyes widened and her cheeks flushed heavily from the warmth radiating from his hands.

“You do? For what?”

“For seeing me as, well, me. Back home, people see me as their hero and there’s so much that’s expected of me that sometimes it feels like I can’t even breathe. I didn’t get to grow up making stupid mistakes or experience things everyone else my age was doing. I’m glad that so many people rely and adore me but...” He sighed heavily. “It makes it hard to connect with anyone when everyone is looking at me with starry eyes. I’m just a trainer from a small town. I’m not anyone special.”

“Lee...”

“I’m still hiding that part of myself to you but...only because I don’t want you to remember me as who I am in the Galar region. I want you to remember me for what you see here. I promise to tell you one day but for now, can you promise me that you’ll remember the Lee you see right now?”

She smiled warmly and pressed her forehead against his. “Only if you do the same for me.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Ahem.” Their heads whipped to the front of the cart where Hop was watching them with suspicious eyes while Courtney was sleepily clinging on his back. Their faces erupted in a bright shade of red in recognition of their sudden closeness, making them tear away from each other quickly.

“Were you two gonna-”

“Hop! Thanks for taking care of my little cousin but let me carry her back home.” J stumbled out of the ferris wheel cart to carry Courtney on her back instead. She didn’t catch the sly smirk that Hop wore on his face, but based on how he protested from being suddenly carried by his older brother, she knew he had seen too much.

The journey back was just as awkward, unlike the comfortable silence they were used to in each other's company. Anytime their shy glances met, they turned their heads away from each other, unable to verbalize or comprehend the torrent of unfamiliar feelings inside of their chests. When they made it back to the inn, they didn’t even properly bid each other good night and instead passed the care of Hop and Courtney to their respective guardians before hurrying to their own rooms.

J leaned back against the door of her room and buried her face in her knees. “Get it together, J. Don’t get attached to a boy who’s going to be gone in a few days.” But she couldn’t shake the lingering warmth of his hands laced with hers, or the way he looked at her with such sincerity and adoration.

Recognizing that what she was feeling was a crush, she was surely drowning in embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Lee had buried himself under the covers, pretending to be asleep to avoid being questioned by his mom in regards to the sudden shift in his behaviour. He lifted his face up from the pillow and couldn’t help but fondly recall J’s warm smiles and earnest eyes – a look that made him feel like he could do anything, be anything. “I’ve...never fallen in love with anyone before...”

He wished this vacation could last forever.

* * *

On the final night before his departure back to Galar, Lee quietly turned over on his bed to look at the time display on the digital clock by his bedside. 3 AM. Still way too early to get up, but just the right time for what he wanted to see. He carefully got out of his bed, shoving extra pillows under the sheets to make it look like he hadn’t snuck out, and tip-toed his way out the door. The inn was completely quiet, save for the sounds of night life that came from open windows to let in the cool summer breeze.

He quietly moved through the inn, miraculously finding his way in the direction of J’s room. He opened it gently, peering into the dark room carefully, before crouching down to her bedside and shaking her awake.

“Nnnng...? Go back to sleep Courtney. I’m not going with you to the bathroom...” J grumbled.

“I’m not Courtney.” Lee snorted. Sleepily opening her eyes and letting her eyes adjust to the darkness, she glared at him lightly for waking her up.

“Lee? What do you want at this hour?”

“Come with me. I want to show you something.”

“Huh...? This early in the morning?”

“It’ll be worth it – I promise.”

“...It better be.” J pushed away her blanket and threw on a light sweater before following him out of the inn. He led her up a nearby hill, where a blanket was laid out on the grass with two canisters sitting on top of it. J raised an eyebrow.

“What’s all this for?”

He plopped down on the blanket and patted the empty space next to him. “Take a seat and you’ll find out.”

She eyed him suspiciously before sitting beside him. He poured tea from one of the canisters and offered it to her. “So, when my family and I visited Mossdeep City, a scientist at the space centre told me something interesting.”

“And that is?” J took the offered tea and sipped it carefully. It was her favourite. Pecha berry tea.

“Look up at the sky and you’ll see. It should be starting soon.”

As if on cue, streaks of light whisked through the night sky one after the other until the sky was blanketed in raining stars. J’s eyes twinkled at the phenomenon and her jaw was dropped in complete awe. She had never witnessed a meteor shower before and seeing one for the first time was nothing short of magical.

“Isn’t this amazing?”

“It’s incredible! I’ve never seen a meteor shower before! I didn’t think it was worth it to wake up early to watch one but I’m so glad you convinced me!” As the sky poured with shooting stars, she felt a sense of sentimentality at the display. Shooting stars, captivating but gone so quickly. But even in its fleeting moments, the beauty of it sticks with you forever.

It reminded her of Lee. A fiery presence, like the sun. Radiating warmth and guiding the way with its light. But, unlike the sun, a constant in everyone’s lives, he had to go back to where he was needed. Back in his own region.

She was going to be OK, though.

She wasn’t going to say ‘good bye’.

She was going to say ‘see you later!”

That’s how she wanted to see him off. Whatever burdens and responsibilities were waiting for him, she wanted to give him strength to keep moving forward.

“Lee.”

He looked at her curiously.

“These two weeks went by so quickly but...Just like shooting stars, I’ll never forget a single moment I’ve spent with you. Whatever comes your way, I know you can get through it.” J put her hands together and wished from the bottom of her heart. “And just in case, I’ll keep wishing for your happiness.”

His hands came around her clasped hands, giving them a comforting squeeze. Their eyes met, both of them filled with longing for the other. Lee’s hand came up to caress her cheek tenderly. She did the same, reaching out to hold his face and rub her thumb against his cheek. Their heads leaned further towards each other, their foreheads coming together and their breaths close enough to feel on each other's lips. Their lips barely grazed each other, as if to gauge the others' reaction.

Finally their lips came together in a gentle kiss. Under the shower of stars, it was like they were sealing a silent promise. To treasure the time that they had and to work hard towards their dreams so they could see each other again.

And when they did meet again, they would ask for their real names.

Long after they pulled away, they remained in each other's arms, even when the last shooting stars had streaked across the sky and in came the dawn over the horizon. Their respective parents and guardians eventually found them, lying fast asleep next to each other with their hands laced together.

But, all good things must come to an end.

Once they were woken up, they pulled away knowingly.

It was time.

Lee looked up at the front of the inn with his suitcase in hand. He never imagined he would have grown attached to the place and the people living in it. Leaving felt like leaving behind a part of himself.

But, one day, he will come back.

And he knew he would be welcomed with open arms.

“Lee, I want you to keep this.” J handed him her Heart Scale; the one they had gotten from helping the baby Luvdisc find his family.

“Why? I already got one so you should keep it.” He protested. She blushed heavily and shifted nervously, eyes transfixed to the ground.

“I...I thought, you know, it will keep you company. Like, I’ll be there with you in spirit. And, you can give it back to me when we meet again. Please?”

“I’ll take good care of it. Actually, to make this fair,” He reached into his duffel bag and pulled out a polaroid camera. “I have one more picture left so let’s take a photo together so you have something to hang on to.”

“Lee…” J sniffled, trying to wipe away her tears but more kept streaming down her face.

“Come on, let me see one of your smiles. This is ‘see you later’ not ‘good-bye’.” Lee comforted as he slid his arm around her shoulder, holding up his Heart Scale by her head while he held his other arm out with camera in hand. J wrapped her own arm around his shoulder and held up her Heart Scale by his head while giving a peace sign with the other. 

“Are you sure this is going to turn out good?”

“My friend Raihan is a pro at taking selfies so I learned a thing or two from him. It’ll turn out perfect, trust me.” Lee beamed. “Ready?”

J smiled brightly at the camera. “Ready!”

“Say ‘cheese’!”

“Cheese!”

_Click._

The photo came out of the camera instantly, and J looked over to see how the photo turned out, only to see that it was completely black. “Huh? Did we mess up?”

Lee chuckled. “Just give it a few seconds.”

Surely enough, the photo faded into clarity and both of them were perfectly in frame, making J giggle excitedly. “It looks great! Thank you, Lee.”

“You’re welcome.” He handed her the photo, while she handed him her Heart Scale in return. They both held their memento from each other close to their chests, basking in the tender moment for just a bit longer. 

J was the first to break the silence and with a tearful smile, she held out a closed fist to him. “See you later, Lee. Good luck with everything back home!”

Lee choked back tears and pulled her into a tight hug instead. J couldn’t hold back anymore. She sobbed into his shoulder and clutched on the back of his shirt. He gingerly stroked her black hair, letting his fingers weave through smooth strands, before finally pulling away and giving her one last cheerful smile.

It wasn’t forced like the ones where cameras were in his face.

This time it was real.

“See you later, J. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

She nodded wordlessly, throat too tight to utter another word. Slowly, he turned his back to her and made his way to the bus, where his mom and brother were already boarded on. When the bus started moving, he stuck his head out of the open window, wanting to cherish the sight of the inn and his first love for as long as he could.

When J couldn’t see the bus anymore, she didn’t move from her spot, choosing to linger in her moment of solitude as fond memories of the last two weeks flash through her mind nostalgically.

Finally, when her aunt called out to her, J confidently walked up to her.

“Auntie. I’m ready to go on another journey.”

* * *


	29. The Ties That Bind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you see the '♪' emoticon, please listen to this song:
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPdaf6WK8VI&ab_channel=PSC

**Chapter 22: The Ties That Bind**

****

* * *

When the memory faded away, Leon felt tears well up in his eyes. Juliet didn’t forget. She remembered. She remembered  _ every _ second of their time together. And, she treasured every moment. To think that all this time he thought that she had forgotten about him because she didn’t care or that she didn’t mean any of the heartfelt words that moved his heart; but how could he think such a thing when one of her most prized possession was the photo of them, with their arms around each other, holding up their Hearts Scales, as they beamed at the camera. 

He didn’t know, but he should have had more faith in her, just like he had promised her. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake ever again. 

“...I think now we understand why Juliet wanted to remember so badly. Even if she couldn’t remember, she knew in her heart that she was missing something so important to her.” Mary noted with a hand over her heart. “You can take away someone’s memory, but you can’t take away the feelings associated with them.”

“Maybe that’s why Juliet is always enamored with stars - because deep down, she associates them with Leon because of that night.” Tessu sniffled. “That’s so cute…”

“Even at night, she’s always looking up at them like she’s looking for something. I guess in this case, she was really looking for someone.” Vanquil added with a grin. 

“I’m sorry...I thought...I thought memories only mattered to the person they belonged to but...now I understand. Some memories don’t belong to one person. They’re...connected to other people...Prince Charmi-I mean, Sir Leon, I’m sorry to you too…” Maya apologized bowing remorsefully to the Champion. Leon knelt down to Maya and gently lifted her head so she was looking at him. Her bright blue eyes were just like Juliet’s, deep like the ocean but sparkling with curiosity. 

“Everything’s going to be OK. Besides, it’s my fault too. I said some things to Juliet that...I shouldn’t have said. But, I’m going to be better from now on, and you can be too.”

* * *

_ Drowning… _

_ It felt like she was drowning… _

_ Except, she was floating, somehow… _

_ A deep sorrow filled her heart and she couldn’t feel anything else. _

_ Deeper, and deeper… _

_ Was this the end for her? Was this how she was going to die? _

_ Alone, with no one by her side? _

_ That thought only intensified her despair… _

_ Expanding… _

…

**_Until it burst._ **

* * *

The ground suddenly began to rumble underneath them, throwing some of them off balance and falling to the ground in shock. The hidden room they were in was starting to crumble, making them flee out of the room immediately, making sure to carry out Maya as well, and back out onto the field of forget-me-nots, but they weren’t prepared for what was emerging from the sea. The thick, red clouds that shrouded the sky sparked with ominous lightning and thunder that shook them to the core. 

Slowly, something massive began to emerge from the sea, and they watched in horror when the Dynamaxed being was finally revealed. Its pitch black body stretched with long, spiked limbs; its eyes a sickening violet that struck terror in their souls; its wisp like head protruding with purple blue flames; and sticking out from its back were skeletal wings that bear the same characteristics as Eternatus. 

But, what horrified them the most was the crystal embedded in its chest and they could see the dark silhouette of someone inside. 

There was only one person it could be.

“Wh...What the hell is that?!” Vanquil gawked fearfully. 

“G...Gigantamax Darkrai…?” Tessu muttered shakily. 

Maya hid behind Darkrai and peeked out with widened eyes. “D-Darkrai...What’s that?” Darkrai turned to Maya and placed his hands firmly on her shoulder. 

**“Stay right here, Maya. And don’t go anywhere.”**

“What are you going-”

Darkrai didn’t let her finish and stood in front of Raid Prism and Leon with Juliet’s Pokemon lined up beside him, all staring up at the Gigantamax Pokemon with resolve burning in their eyes. The was completely outside of what they were used to seeing, but there was no way in hell they were going to back down now after coming so far. 

“I’ll control Hajime. Tessu, you control Odin. Leon, you control Tiki. And Mary, you control Darkrai.” Vanquil ordered. They all nodded and got into positions with their designated Pokemon. 

“Ummm...What are your-” Mary began to ask Darkrai. 

**“Dark Pulse, Nightmare, Hypnosis, and Brick Break.”** He answered quickly. Brick Break? He knew a fighting move? That was going to be useful against...another Darkrai? Everything was happening so quickly and it was hard to process the logic of it all, but they had no choice but to roll with it or else they were going to be swept away.

This was likely the only chance they had.

“Everyone ready?!” Vanquil shouted.

“Yeah!”

“Then, let’s beat this Max Raid and save Juliet!”

* * *

_ What was happening? _

_ Why...Why was there so much noise? _

_ Stop...I don’t want to hear those voices anymore! _

_ I already know...I’m a fake… _

_ I deserve this… _

* * *

They had no idea how much damage they were dealing but the Gigantamax Pokemon immediately put up its barriers after enduring a few of their attacks. This is where the situation could get unpredictable depending on what their next course of action was going to be. It was especially dangerous for Odin, being part psychic and Gigantamax Darkrai dishing out Ghost and Dark type moves, even if the Alolan Raichu had the incredible speed to dodge attacks. 

Knowing this, the best thing Odin could do to raise all of their defenses was to use Light Screen, lessening the damage of special attacks. But, as if to cruelly stomp over their strategy, the Gigantamax Pokemon unleashed Brick Break, which shattered through the Light Screen. 

At least they knew it had the same moveset as the regular Darkrai had. Knowing this was a double edge sword, and Darkrai could use the same fighting move against itself. 

That’s what he hoped anyway.

But, because they were in a dream, they had no items to speak of. No potions, no berries, no battle items. Each of them wished long and hard, hoping an item would miraculously appear out of thin air to aid them, but there was nothing. With that at the back of their minds, they felt their morale begin to wane even though the battle had barely started. 

“Damnit! We’re off to a really bad start!” Vanquil hissed. 

“We have to keep trying! We still haven’t broken through its barriers yet!” Tessu shouted back. “Odin, use Electro Ball!”

Odin surfed across the rocky waves to build up momentum before forming a sphere of pure electricity and using his psychic powers to accelerate its speed as he sent it flying with a flick of his tail. The attack landed directly on the crystal, though not causing any physical damage to Gigantamax Darkrai, it left a tiny crack in its wake. 

“Raichu! Raichuchu!!” Odin exclaimed, flailing his stubby arms before pointing at his chest to reference the crystal. 

**“He’s telling us that his attack left a crack in the crystal!”** Darkrai alerted.

“Looks like we’ll have to literally break through! Tiki, aim for the crystal and use Dragon Claw!” Leon commanded. Tiki swiftly swerved past every attack from Dark Pulse, getting up close to the crystal where she could see Juliet floating unconscious more clearly. 

The sight made her heart ache.The Flygon felt so close yet so far from her trainer, separated by a crystal barrier that appeared more sturdy than it looked. Tiki stared at her claws for a moment, wondering if she could just claw at it with all her might, or even make enough noise to jolt Juliet awake. 

That’s when her mind flashed back to her first encounter with her trainer, back when she was just a baby Traphinch, and she had accidentally rolled on her back and was stuck in that position, until Juliet found her, despite the heavy sandstorm that raged through the desert of route 111, and gently rolled her back over. The young trainer carried her to a nearby cave where she set out a bowl of berries and water just for her.

She never forgot the smile or hospitality that Juliet gave her that day.

_ “There you go! Are you OK? Here, you must be hungry. Eat this!” _

Tiki’s eyes burned with tears from the fond memory, which made her Dragon Claw that much more powerful, resonating with love for her trainer, and unleashed heavy swipes against the crystal, creating more cracks on its surface. 

“Hajime! Use Hammer Arm!”

Hajime swam through the murky waters and pushed through the waves and currents that tried to get in his way. Once he gained enough speed, he propelled himself out of the water, leaping with his fist raised, ready to unleash his attack. 

His mind flashed back to his first encounter with Juliet, back when he was a rowdy and disobedient Mudkip who had been abandoned by his previous trainer. He remembered giving her so much trouble, having experienced his fair share of suffering and trust issues, but as frustrated as she was with him, she always came back to him with a patient smile. 

He never forgot the compassion she showed him during those times. 

_ “I’m sorry for being angry, Hajime. I promise that I’m not like your other trainer, and I just want to see you do your best. I believe in you so let’s keep trying!” _

Hajime growled with confidence, feeling a surge of power burst within him, before slamming his arm on the crystal and deepening the cracks that built on the surface. 

“Hajime! Look out!”

The Swampert snapped his head to the side to see a fist flying right at him, making him cross his thick arms over himself in defense and braced himself for the oncoming attack. 

But, it never came. 

Hajime opened his eyes to see Odin, struggling but somehow, pushing back the punch with Psychic. He weakly told him to get out of the way because he couldn’t hold on for any longer. The Swampert got out of the way just in time, but he watched in shock as the fist connected to the Alolan Raichu and sent him flying and into the ocean. 

“ODIN!” Tessu shrieked. Tiki didn’t waste another second and flew after him, only to see him weakly pull himself out of the water with electricity surrounding him sporadically. 

His mind flashed back to his first encounter with Juliet, back when he was an eccentric PIkachu back in the Safari Zone. His kind always looked at him funny, and often left him out of their games and shared meals. He spent most of his days training by himself, coming up with flashy moves in hopes someone would notice him. And someone did. When Juliet stumbled upon him training by himself, she didn’t make fun of him or give him a weird look.

He never forgot the carefree laughter she let out, entertained by his antics. 

_ “You’re working hard, aren’t you? _

Odin concentrated all of his electrical energy from his paws, to his cheeks, and let out the mightiest Thunderbolt he had ever summoned. It wasn’t quite as strong as a Max Lightning, but it was almost as big as one. The massive lightning bolt struck Gigantamax Darkrai - it looked like the crystal only needed to be hit one more time and Juliet would finally be free. 

But, that only seemed to anger the Pokemon even further. 

It violently swiped away the Pokemon, sending them skidding across the water and onto the sand by their feet. To add insult to injury, it raised a hand over the crystal, so none of them would be able to reach it. 

“What...What do we do now…? No matter how many times we attack, its barrier won’t break at all…” Mary heaved tiredly, looking to the others for any answers. But they couldn’t think of anything. At this rate, they were only going to keep digging themselves further into a fight that they probably couldn’t win. 

It couldn’t end this way…

…

“Go! Go! You can do it!” Maya cheered loudly. They turned their heads to Maya, surprised evident on their faces as the little girl jumped up and down while pumping her first in the air as if she was holding imaginary pompoms. 

**“Maya…? What are you doing…?”** Darkrai asked.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m cheering you on! I’ve watched you guys do Raids all the time and even when someone’s Pokemon was down, you still cheered each other on! Maybe, if you cheer loud enough, Juliet will be able to hear you too!” Maya ran up to the shoreline and cupped her hands over her mouth. 

“Juliet!! Can you hear me?! You can’t give up!! I know you can get back up and fight!! Your friends are fighting for you too!!”

Tessu quickly followed suit and stood beside Maya, holding her hands over her mouth as well. “Jules!! Please come back to us!! We need you!!”

And then Vanquil. “You can get through this!! We’re all here for you!!”

Then Mary. “We love and care about you, Jules!! Come back!!”

Then Leon. “J!!! I’m so sorry for what I said before!! Despite everything, you still mean the world to me!! You’re stronger than this - I know you are!!!”

Her Pokemon cried out alongside them at the top of their lungs. 

Darkrai clenched his fists. He wasn’t going to run away anymore. Taking a deep breath, he looked up to the sky and shouted,  **“Champion Juliet!! I want to see you again!!”**

The Heart Scale shot out a beam of light directly at where the crystal was being protected by Gigantamax Darkrai’s hands, making it hiss out in pain and inevitably welcoming the warm light through to Juliet’s cage.

* * *

_ “...can’t give up!” _

_ “...come back to us!” _

_ “...all here for you!” _

_ “...love and care about you…” _

_ “...stronger than this…” _

…

**“Champion Juliet! I want to see you again!”**

Juliet’s eyes snapped open, almost as if something had popped the bubble of self-loathing that surrounded her. The voices, distorted and incomprehensible through the water prison she was trapped in, suddenly cut through, loud and clear. Those voices...they weren’t the same voices that haunted her. They weren’t the ones that she tried to block out by covering her ears. 

_ Where were they coming from? _

Squinting her eyes, she saw something bright, piercing through the cracks that broke through the surface of her cage. Pressing her hand up against the light, the voices came back again, and she could finally recognize who they were coming from. 

She saw visions of each of them, standing on the shore far away, and screaming at the top of their lungs for her. 

For her company. 

For her smiles. 

For her irreplaceable presence by their sides. 

**_For her._ **

Maya…

Tessu…

Vanquil…

Mary…

Leon…

Her Pokemon....

And even...Darkrai…

But no, there was more, she could hear more voices coming from somewhere if she closed her eyes and concentrated hard enough. Then, flashing in front of her eyes, were projections of what was happening in the outside world. Her eyes went wide as her eyes looked over each projection that surrounded her and listened to the voices of the people she had ties with. 

The people she touched.

**_The people who thought of her._ **

_ “You can wake up from this Juliet! All the Wooloo and Yampers on my farm are cheering you on too!” _

Milo…

_ “There’s still so much about water Pokemon that I want to talk about with you, Juliet! I want to see that lovely smile of yours again!” _

Nessa…

_ “You’ve been fighting a lonely battle, but I know that the fire burning inside of you will never go out! I’m with you as well!” _

Kabu…

_ “I admire your fighting spirit, Juliet, but you also need to take a step back and let others take care of you! You’re not alone!” _

Bea…

_ “Y-You must be going through a really scary situation right now, but don’t be scared! I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but I’ll fight for you too!” _

Allister…

_ “To be frank, you’re a bit clumsy and tend to have your head up in the clouds, but, you shine in a way that no one else can. And, I want to see you shine even brighter. _ ”

Opal…

_ “There’s probably a huge boulder blocking your way right now, but you can count on me to help you smash right through it!” _

Gordie…

_ “Being alone can make you feel so cold and miserable, but when you wake up, I’ll be here to give you the warmth that your heart needs.” _

Melony...

_ “You always had a habit of overthinkin’ everythin’, but let yourself go and embrace the beat of your own drum even if some people will look away. I’ll always listen.” _

Piers…

_ “No matter how tough the storm is, no matter how much you want to shield yourself from the fear, I know you can weather the storm and see the end of the rainbow!” _

Raihan…

_ “You’ve always supported my research and encouraged me when I was stuck or felt like giving up. I won’t give up on you either, Juliet!!” _

Sonia…

_ “You believed in me when I was doubting myself, and the things you said gave me the courage I needed to battle the way I wanted to! I believe in you too!” _

Hop…

_ “Even though you’re not a Champion anymore, seeing you able to live your life with a smile shows just how strong you really are! I want to be like you someday!” _

Gloria...

_ “You were always taking care of me despite how bratty I can be, and it’s only right that I start looking out for you too, big sis!” _

Courtney…

_ “You were always so bright and earnest as a child, and you deserved so much more than what your parents and the world were treating you. We will never regret adopting you because we love you as if you were our own daughter.” _

Auntie and uncle…

And then a different scene began to play, and she could barely make out the faces of the trainers that had come to their rescue from other regions. It looked like they were crowded around tables with coloured pieces of paper splayed all over, and folded paper Swannas that piled up in the center. 

_ “Ugh, this is harder than it looks…” _

_ “Geez, Hugh, can’t you be a little more, I don’t know, neater?” _

_ “Hey, I’m trying my best here!” _

_ “Wow, Serena! Your Swannas look perfect!” _

_ “Hehe, you think so? I do design my own clothes so I’m pretty crafty!” _

_ “When we finish making 1000 Swannas, I wonder what Juliet is going to wish for…” _

_ “Knowing her, she probably wouldn’t use the wish on herself.” _

_ “Yeah, that does seem like her, huh, May?” _

_ “...Red. Are you trying to make a Charizard?” _

_ “...” _

_ “I don’t think Charizard counts for this cause, man.” _

_ “Oh, Anabel and Looker! Fancy meeting you two here.” _

_ “Ah! Selene! It has been awhile. I hope you don’t mind if Looker and I join you all.” _

_ “Of course we don’t mind! More hands means faster work! Here, I’ll show you two how to make one!” _

The prison she was trapped in, suddenly felt so much warmer and less lonely, with projections from all over Galar displaying in front of her eyes, where fans, complete strangers - all cheering her on to fight through her darkness. Lighting through the darkness, as she lifted up both of her hands, she saw so many strings wrapped around each of her fingers. Every gesture, every act, and every encouragement she gave to people over the course of her life, was a tie that had binded completely with her and established a bond that couldn’t be severed. Everyone’s collective voices reached out to her and silenced the haunting voices that often invaded her thoughts. 

Everyone she touched, every bond she made - they all wanted the same thing. 

For the first time, she _ finally _ believed that she mattered to people, and that she didn’t have to force herself to live up to someone else’s ideals just to keep her around.

**She was enough.**

She wasn’t going to let herself get trapped in someone else’s twisted expectations anymore. 

With newfound determination and courage coursing through her veins, and her desire to break free from her cage at an all time high, Juliet kicked her feet off of the crystal over and over. As more light began to shine through the cracks, the more confident she felt in her own power. 

_ I won’t let myself be swayed by other people’s words anymore. _

**_Kick_ **

_ I won’t deflect anyone’s gratitude anymore, because there are people who rely on me. _

**_Kick_ **

**_“I won’t...I won’t let anyone take this life away from me!! I’m going to carve out my own future with my own hands!!”_ ** Juliet shouted from the bottom of her heart. With every ounce of energy she had left, she put it all into one last kick that finally shattered through the crystal. Gigantamax Darkrai recoiled back from having its crystal destroyed from the inside out, allowing the light from the Heart Scale shine through to Juliet. 

It was quite a drop from where she was, until she remembered that she was in her dreams. And finally recognizing that she could do anything she wanted, she steeled herself and jumped. As she dropped closer and closer to the rocky waves below, a single thought crossed her mind. 

_ I’m free to fly wherever I want to.  _

And she did. 

Juliet flew across the sea with ease, and she followed the light that guided her to where her loved ones were waiting for her. As she got closer to the shoreline, their eyes lit up joyfully and eagerly waved her over to them. Tiki and Odin couldn’t wait, flying and gliding towards her and practically catapulting themselves into their trainer. 

“Tiki! Odin!” Juliet cooed, cradling her Flygon’s head dearly while wrapping an arm tightly around the Alolan Raichu. She lowered herself into the shallow waters, letting Hajime bound towards her and tackling her into the water. 

“It’s good to see you too, Hajime!” Even as Juliet pulled herself out of the water, she was only tackled back into the water by her team. She laughed warmly, holding her friends close and rubbing their backs as they cried with relief. 

“OK, OK. We can continue this later! The battle isn’t over yet.” She told them. 

“R-Right...Sorry.” Mary sniffled. 

“Also, what’s with the outfit? You kind of look like a magical girl! Not in a bad way or anything.” Tessu giggled.

Juliet blushed lightly. “I’ll tell you guys later. For now…” She shot them an encouraging grin. “Seems like you guys are having a bit of trouble.” She turned around to face Gigantamax Darkrai, who finally regained its composure despite it’s barrier finally crumbling into nothing. There was nothing that could bring its defenses up now that she had broken free and opened her eyes. 

Opened her eyes for real.

“Thank you...Thank you for...all your support. I heard you guys, I even heard everyone outside - I hear you all, loud and clear. You all worked so hard, but let me finish this.” Closing her eyes and reaching her hand out, her Champion attire that she dreamed about as a child, lit up, allowing the shimmering stars to shine through the stormy clouds above. 

She was a League Champion no longer, but she would always be a Champion in her own right. 

Deep within her heart she believed that once a Champion, always a Champion. 

**A Champion of hopes and dreams!**

“Hajime, Tiki, Odin, Darkrai…” Juliet looked up to the sky. “Takumi, Hubert, Hilda, Soleil, Flora, Felix, and Pistachio! Are you ready?!”

As if answering to her calls, she felt a rise in magical energy coming from Hilda’s fairy powers. A star-bound bow appeared in her hands with a quiver of flame arrows strapped across her chest. And though Pistachio didn’t have any combat prowess, she swore she could feel him affectionately nudging her ankle. 

_ They were always with her. _

Drawing her bow with a flaming arrow, she carefully aimed it directly at Gigantamax Darkrai’s chest. “Hajime, use Hydro Cannon! Tiki, use Earth Power! Odin, use Electro Ball! And Darkrai, use Brick Break!”

Odin charged up a massive Electro Ball and sent it flying towards Gigantamax Darkrai, while Hajime reeled back to unleash a devastating stream of water, which pushed against the Electro Ball and accelerated its trajectory. When the electrical attack connected, it exploded into a flurry of sparks, paralyzing the Gigantamax Pokemon completely. Then, Tiki slammed into the ground, sending a shockwave into the ocean that erupted sharp rocks from the sea up into the opposing Pokemon, sending it flying high into the air. Darkrai flew towards his doppelganger with his fist drawn back, building up the culmination of all of his struggles, his regrets, and insecurities, into a single punch.

This wasn’t just a moment for Juliet to face her darkness head-on; it was also his moment to defeat the monster that he always thought he was and had to be. 

**“You’re not who I want to be - I will decide that for myself!!”** Darkrai proclaimed bravely, swinging his fist directly into its chest, pushing it back across the sea. 

**“Now, Champion Juliet!”**

Darkrai got out of the way just in time just as Juliet fired the charged up flame arrow that whisked through the air, burning brightly and surely, and pierced into Gigantamax Darkrai’s chest. The Pokemon cried out in pain before finally exploding into a cloud of fiery smoke and dissipating away with the wind until there was no trace of the monster left. 

Once it was gone, the sky cleared up, letting the star-filled sky shine down on their victory. The sea gradually calmed, the turbulent waves relaxing into gentle tides along the shore. 

It was  _ finally _ over. 

_ ♪ I wasn’t able to draw my very own map ♪ _ _  
_ _ ♪ Because I couldn’t blame anyone else for it ♪ _

Juliet could hardly believe it that all she could do was drop to her knees. The first thing she could feel was an overwhelming wave of relief, but underneath it all, she was physically and emotionally exhausted that she couldn’t find anything to say. 

“J! Are...Are you OK?” Leon asked worryingly as he crouched down into the shallow water. Tears streamed down her cheeks, but when she turned to look at him, she gave him the brightest smile he had ever seen from her.

_ ♪ I could never find the right answers ♪ _ _  
_ _ ♪ All I’m good at is making excuses ♪ _

“I...I can’t describe what it is I’m feeling right now but...I will be OK.”

His eyes softened and he offered a hand out to her, which she took gingerly and allowed herself to be pulled back to her feet with his help. But, rather than let go of her hand, he gave it a comforting squeeze. 

_ ♪ If I’m going to get hurt otherwise, I’d rather stay as I am ♪ _ _  
_ _ ♪ But because I met you, I found myself ♪ _

“Juliet...I...I’m so sorry...for what I said before…” Leon frowned. “I was so caught up in the past and I couldn’t stand the thought of not being able to trust those who mattered to me because of how much trust I had in Rose. And yet, I wanted you to trust me, but I shouldn’t have forced you to tell me everything especially if it hurt you…”

“Lee…”

“No one is the same person they were 8 years ago. You, me - the both of us have changed in different ways since then. But, even with those changes, and learning new things about you, the one thing that stayed the same about you that still moves my heart more than anything else, is your compassionate heart.” He then smiled at her tenderly, with all the adoration and love swimming in his golden eyes.

_ ♪ Your voice, your weakness, your gaze ♪ _ _  
_ _ ♪ Even the bold front you put up, and that smile of yours - those will become my wings ♪ _

“I’m so glad I got to see you again. I wouldn’t trade the Juliet I know now for anything in the world.”

Juliet’s eyes widened and burned with another round of tears. 

But, this time from happiness. 

_ ♪ Let’s set flight from this never ending night, shaking ourselves free from the border of cowardice for changing by me ♪ _ _  
_ _ ♪ Let us seek the light of tomorrow ♪ _

“...I’m sorry. I...I never understood what was wrong with me. I wanted to trust the people around me too with all my heart but I was so afraid of losing that. I’ve pretty much lost the people that brought me into this world because I wasn’t who they wanted me to be, so...I’ve never really...felt like I had a place to belong.” Juliet balled up her fists and just let the tears run down her cheeks because she wanted to bare her soul to everyone. She trusted them. “I’ve always felt that...listening to people’s problems and being there for them, it made me feel like I was needed. That I was reliable. That I had a place in someone else’s life. I just...” She tried to smile, even if it looked crooked from her trembling lips. “I just wanted a place to belong and be remembered.”

“And you do have a place to belong. Right here.” Leon smiled and opened his arms out to her. “I remember you. I’ve always remembered you. How could I ever forget someone who accepted me as I am even all those years ago?”

“But-”

“So, what if you didn’t remember the times we spent together? I mean, it did hurt a little but, what matters now is the present. You still accept me for who I am, and I’ll always be grateful for that. So...” He took a step forward, with his arms still stretched out for her. “I don’t want you to ever feel like you don’t belong. When I said you meant the world to me that one time, I meant every word.”

Juliet choked out a sob before throwing herself into Leon’s arms and welcoming the warmth and comfort of his embrace. She wailed and wailed, letting out all of her ugly cries, as Leon held her tightly and gingerly stroked her hair. “I’m so...I’m so sorry! For not telling you sooner about-”

“Shhhh...It’s going to be OK. I’m here now and I see now why you’ve always kept to yourself but please, I want you to rely on me for emotional support. I can take it, and just as you’ve always held my feelings with care, I’m always here to do the same thing for you.” Leon smiled against her hair. “You know, this isn’t the first time you cried in my arms, but the last time, even though you were crying your eyes out, I had a feeling you were still holding yourself back for my sake based on how you were able to crack jokes after. But this time, I feel like I truly understand you now.”

“I...” Juliet sniffled and couldn’t help but snuggled deeper into his arms. “I’m glad...It...It doesn’t bother you, does it?”

“It only bothers me by how much you beat yourself up about it, but I want to be there to help you through it. Can’t you tell I’ve already accepted you with open arms?”

_ ♪ I thought I was stuck in a dead end ♪ _ _  
_ _ ♪ Trapped, unable to go anywhere ♪ _

“...Yeah. You’re right. I should have realized that a long time ago. But... I know that I can finally work towards being a better person that others can rely on, but also be someone that will accept the genuine love and care that people have for me because I  _ do _ deserve it…” Juliet pulled back back to look up at him expectantly,

“Thank you for loving me, Leon.”

His cheeks flared up from her loving gratitude, but that only made him hug her tighter.    
“Of course. I’d do anything to make sure that you’re always happy and smiling.”

Juliet smiled gently before giggling. “Right back at you-”

“Juliet,” Maya called softly. Juliet turned around curiously to the little girl, but kept her hand laced with Leon’s. She regarded Maya with a small smile and tilted her head quizzically. 

_ ♪ But, you told me the path was always open ♪ _

“Yes?”

“...I’m sorry for keeping your memories from you. I was so sad with how short my life was...I wanted more. But, now I learned how wonderful my own memories are and how happy they make me.” Maya smiled tearfully, as glowing orbs began to envelope her body. 

It was time for her to move on, and be with her family. 

_ ♪ Once I stepped forward on my own ♪ _ _  
_ _ ♪ I feel the gentle breeze on my cheeks, carrying me forward ♪ _

“Maya!” Juliet exclaimed in surprise, reaching out to her. Maya reached out and took her hand, even though her hand was starting to fade away with the lights.

_ ♪ I’ll share these wings engraved upon my back ♪ _ _  
_ _ ♪ With you, struggling amongst sadness and suffering ♪ _

“Thank you, Juliet. Thank you for sharing some of your life with me and being my friend. I’m so happy that…” Maya’s eyes wandered over to each of them, regarding everyone with kindness. “...my last memories are with all of you.”

_ ♪ I hope that you’ll soar to even greater heights in these endless days for  _ _ changing about you ♪ _ _  
_ _ ♪ And so I pray ♪ _

Juliet squeezed the little girl’s hand, despite it feeling like she was clutching on nothing but air. “Y-You’re welcome, Maya...You’ll always be my friend.”

Maya’s smile widened, even as her feet began to disappear. “You’ll always be my friend too.” Her eyes fell on Darkrai and she held her ghostly hand out to him. Darkrai breathed unsteadily and held it gingerly. 

_ ♪ Though there were lonely nights when I cried ♪ _ _  
_ _ ♪ I know that, in the ongoing future, there is someone waiting for me ♪ _

“Thank you, Darkrai. For being my first, precious friend.”

**“...I should be thanking you, Maya...Thank you for accepting me...for who I am. Thank you...for being my friend.”**

Maya beamed through her tears and looked at Juliet one last time. 

“Will you remember me?”

A simple question, but held some much weight and meaning. 

It was a tender wish.

Juliet choked out a sob and nodded furiously. “I’ll always remember you. And not just me - all of us will.”

Maya’s body was completely engulfed in a cluster of glowing lights, but her smile never left her face. She knew that a part of her would continue to live on in each of them, meaning that she would never truly disappear from the world. 

Knowing that, she had no reason to be afraid.

_ ♪ In this long journey where everyone falters ♪ _ _  
_ _ ♪ I’ll take a step forward with thoughts of you in my heart and my faith in dawn ♪ _

“Thank you...everyone...I hope we can meet again someday. But, for now, I hope that...you’ll all be happy for eternity!” The cluster of lights collected into a single, bright burning soul. 

“Bye, bye!”

The soul of Maya ascended into the sky and disappeared over the horizon, which slowly brightened with the rise of dawn. They all huddled close together, sharing in their grief from the bittersweet send-off of a kind little girl who cherished life. 

It was probably the first time Darkrai had cried.

But...everything was going to be OK. 

“Hey, Juliet. I think this belongs to you. Maya gave it back to us.” Mary said gently, holding out the polaroid photo to its rightful owner. Juliet’s eyes widened and then softened in recognition. When she held the photo in her hands, she felt wrapped in warm nostalgia as those lost memories fitted into the spaces that they belonged in like missing puzzle pieces. 

“...Do you still have that photo in the real world?” Leon couldn’t help but ask. Juliet’s smile widened as she held the photo close to her heart.

“I do. It’s been awhile since I looked at it, but I know exactly where I kept it. I didn’t want to ever lose it so I hid it somewhere that only I would know. A place where I knew it would always be safe.”

“And that is?”

“Swing by my place and I’ll show you.” She winked cheekily.

Leon laughed warmly. “Always full of surprises as always.”

_ ♪ Hey, I want to tell you something _ _  
_ _ ♪ To the fact that you were born, the fact that we met ♪ _

Juliet looked at everyone with tender joy before turning back to the sun rise and the gentle waves rising and retreating along the shore. Her heart felt empty no longer, now overflowing with love and gratitude. She gained a new appreciation for her life, and all the precious people in it. 

None of them were alone, and neither was Maya. 

“Darkrai,” Juliet addressed suddenly. The Mythical Pokemon took a moment to compose himself before answering her. 

**“Yes?”**

With a grin, she grabbed one of his hands and gave it a light shake. “Welcome back.”

He blinked. And then let out a chuckle.  **“I believe that’s my line.”**

“Fair point, but I said it first!”

“Yeah, but we can top that! One, two, three-!” Vanquil counted down. 

“WELCOME BACK, JULIET!” They all shouted in unison. 

Juliet laughed heartily at their combined greeting. She was home, and there was nowhere else in the world she’d rather be. As they laughed along with her, the sky grew brighter, filling their hearts with hope.

Dawn had arrived and thus, the nightmare came to an end. 

_ ♪ And this world with you ♪ _ _  
_ _ ♪ Thank you ♪ _

* * *

“The Dynamax levels are dropping!”

“Wait, is that a good thing or a bad thing?!”

“I think it’s good - look!” Matthew pointed at the monitor displaying Juliet’s brain activity. Unlike a short while ago where it was fluctuating - now it was slowly easing into normality. All of their heads turned to the sound of someone groaning, seeing Raid Prism and Leon, slowly regaining consciousness. 

“Ow...my neck is all sore…” Tessu complained. 

“That’s the price we pay for sleeping upright in chairs…” Vanquil grumbled. 

“You’re all awake!” Sonia cheered, scrambling over to them to make sure they were OK. “Did...Did you guys-”

“Sylveon!!!” Hilda’s screeched pierced through the air, alerting them to Juliet’s bedside. They haphazardly yanked the cords and devices that had them hooked up to her dreams, and crowded around with their breaths stuck in their throats as they waited for her to open her eyes. 

Slowly, but surely, her face scrunched up, making her eyes clench and then relax, before her eyes fluttered open. Her vision was blurred, but she could make out the silhouettes of many people standing around her bed, on top of recognizing the weight on her lap and something coiled around her right arm. 

When her vision cleared and she could see everyone in the room, they all screamed out in joy. She barely had a moment to prepare herself for how her Pokemon jumped onto her hospital bed with their arms, wings, and various other limbs, wrapped around her as they cried. 

She felt smothered by their love. 

Quite literally, in fact. 

“Need...to...breathe!” Juliet gasped out. Her Pokemon immediately loosened their grip, bowing their heads apologetically much to her amusement. 

The door to her room suddenly slammed open, revealing a shocked Raihan with the other Gym Leaders crowded behind him and trying to take a peek at Juliet thanks to Raihan’s tall stature blocking the way. 

“Juliet’s awake?! Hey! Stop pushing!”

“Stop blocking the doorway then!” Nessa hissed. They comically squeezed through the door, much to Raihan’s annoyance, and approached Juliet with thankful smiles on their faces. Some of them were fighting back happy tears, but all of them were practically beaming from ear to ear. It made her heart swell fondly. All of these people loved and cared for her, and she no longer hesitated when acknowledging their love with a bright smile. 

...Although, as loved as she felt, it was a tad overwhelming to have so many people come see her at a time. 

Fennel must have sensed this and politely shooed them a few steps back. “I know you’re all excited and relieved to see Juliet awake, but give her some room to breathe! She went through quite an ordeal, you know!”

“S-Sorry! We got a little carried away.” Milo apologized sheepishly. 

“It’s OK, Milo.” Juliet reassured. It felt...so nice to see everyone again. “Thank you, everyone...for thinking of me and caring about me.”

“Of course, dear! We’re...We’re just so glad you’re OK.” Melony sniffled. 

“Mum, are you crying?” Gordie teased. 

“Oh hush, you were crying as much as you did the day you were born.”

“What?! No, I wasn’t!”

“And, there they go…” Piers noted while rolling his eyes. 

“Juliet,” Cynthia greeted happily. “I’m happy to see that you’re finally awake. How are you feeling?”

“C-Champion Cynthia…” Juliet stuttered.

“Please, just Cynthia is fine.”

“I’m...well, I’m honestly feeling really groggy at the moment, Cynthia.” She admitted. 

“Understandable. I can only imagine the ordeal you had to face while you were asleep. Just one more thing before I leave for the time being - where’s Darkrai?”

“Darkrai? He’s-” Juliet didn’t realize she was holding an Ultra Ball in her left hand in place of the Mythical Pokemon’s hand. She tossed it in the air curiously, revealing the aforementioned Pokemon. The Gym Leaders flinched back in surprise from witnessing the Pokemon of nightmares for the first time, minus Allister who looked up in awe at finally seeing the Pokemon outside of when he saw it in Juliet’s consciousness. 

“You’re that Pokemon I saw before!” He exclaimed. 

Darkrai approached the young Ghost-type Gym Leader, surprising the others of how unfazed Allister was by him, on top of his apparent familiarity with the Mythical Pokemon.  **“Ahh, I remember you. You’re that boy with the tremendous sixth-sense ability.”**

“I-I wouldn’t really call it tremendous…”

“Everyone, this is Darkrai! Darkrai, these are my friends! Let’s all try to get along, OK?” Juliet announced cheesily. 

“Y-Yeah...Easier said than done…” Raihan sputtered. “But, is no one else freaking out that this Pokemon can talk?!”

“Raihan, are you forgetting that we just saved our region from the apocalypse? Once you’ve seen that, you’ve seen them all.” Kabu reminded bluntly. 

“But, still…!”

“Alright, alright everyone! I think that’s enough excitement for now. We have to perform some tests on Juliet to make sure there aren’t any internal injuries.” Fennel then pointed at Leon accusingly. “And you, Mr. Champion - you need to go back to your own room!”

“R-Right…”

“Don’t worry, Doc. I’ll make sure this guy gets plenty of rest. Come on, Champ.” Raihan wrapped an arm around Leon’s shoulder and carried him out of the room, but not before the Champion sending a concerned glance over his shoulder at Juliet, who smiled gently and mouthed, ‘I’ll see you later’.The other Gym Leaders and Raid Prism followed them out, but Juliet noticed someone else trying to sneak out with them who looked like another doctor. 

But, why did he act so suspicious?

“Matthew! Where are you going?” Fennel asked with a raised eyebrow.

…

Wait,  _ Matthew…? _

Matthew froze in place and swore under his breath. Shit. There was no way out of this predicament. He cleared his throat, straightened his thick glasses, and walked back to Dr. Fennel’s side, but with his head turned away. He felt Juliet staring at him intensely, that the sweat began to gather at the back of his neck in anxiety. 

“It’s been over a decade and you don’t even want to look at me?”

Of course he wanted to look at her! But, he was filled with so much shame. He didn’t know how he could fix their severed bond nor did he believe that she would forgive him at all. But, here she was. Waiting for him to say something,  _ anything. _

“I...I’m sorry, Juliet.” His head finally turned to her, but his eyes remained fixed to the ground. “I’m sorry if me being here makes you upset or, you’d rather if I just leave and-”

“Don’t put words in my mouth.”

“I’m sor-”

“And stop apologizing so much.”

“...Then, what should I say?”

“Why are you here?  _ How _ are you here?”

Matthew swallowed the thick lump in his throat, head swimming in indecisiveness of what to say that wouldn’t upset her. “Well...I’m a doctor. A colleague of Dr. Fennel’s in fact. When I heard there was a case she would be tending to in Galar, I thought it’d be a good opportunity for me to learn more from the other doctors here since it would be my first time here. But, when Fennel said who the client was...I...I thought…”

“You thought…?”

“I thought...if you saw me, you’d scowl at me and run away. When the situation got dire, I wanted to help you in any way I could. To...make up for all the times that I didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to play the hero or anything! I just...I just wanted to see you again.”

Juliet breathed heavily through her nose, processing her brother’s guilt and regret with narrow eyes. His studies certainly paid off if he was a doctor, but knowing that he likely still had ties to their parents, that didn’t sit comfortably with her. She didn’t want them to spare any ounce of detail about herself and she made it plain and clear that they didn’t have any right to take partial credit for anything she did nor associate her with them.

“...Are you still in touch with them?”

“In touch? Oh…” Matthew bit his lip. “To be brutally honest, yes, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.”

That surprised her. “You’re not? But, you were always so studious and obedient-”

“I suppose, but it’s suffocating. No amount of praise from them will ever make me forgive them for what they put you through, which is why as the years go on, I’m slowly cutting my ties away from them.”

Juliet’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious…?”

“Of course I’m serious. I’m an adult and I get to choose what and who’s important to me. Sure, a part of me probably owes them for whipping my ass off to study hard to get here, but they don’t get to reap the rewards if they’re just going to treat other people who are less than, like garbage.” Matthew confessed. He played the role of the smart eldest son to a T but once he learned his parents’ true natures, he gave up that life of being leeched off of. Their praise meant nothing to him now. 

“My biggest regret aside from not doing more to help you, is that it took me this long to take the initiative to distance myself from them. Being in that environment...it felt so toxic. But, I was a coward and stayed for too long. I should have reached out to you sooner, especially when you needed it the most. I know you told me to stop apologizing, but I will always carry that regret with me.”

“Matthew…” Juliet whimpered, reaching for his hand which made his eyes snap to hers in surprise. “All this time...I thought you never cared about me...I thought you just pretended that I didn’t exist…”

“...!” Matthew squeezed her hands. “You’re my little sister; I always knew you were there! When...When I got to hold you for the first time as a baby, I thought to myself ‘I want to protect her’. Some big brother I turned out to be.”

“You still remember that…?”

“Of course! You were so small and...I could only pray that if I was the one who had to go through so much discipline and abuse just so you could have a better life, than that was fine. I’d take it.” He confessed. 

Juliet’s eyes widened, horrified by her brother’s confession. “That’s-”

“A horrible conclusion to come to? I know, but what else could I do? When I started to see the signs of them treating you like how they treated me, I wanted to try to do  _ something _ to make things easier for you. But, anytime I tried to play with you, our parents would always scold me to study instead! Hell, I would even try to give you some of my food or slide in candy from under the door, but they always caught me.”

“You did that?”

“Yeah! Because, if I couldn’t talk or play with you, I needed to find other ways to show that I was thinking of you. Did you ever notice how Aunt Tiffany would give you extra money on your birthdays?”

“Are you saying those were from you?!” Juliet gaped. 

“Yup. I had no idea what you liked or what you wanted so you could treat yourself to something you liked with the money. I didn’t want Tiffany to tell you who it was from since I didn’t want you to think I was bribing you or - h-hey! Did I make you cry? Gosh, I’m so-”

Juliet threw her arms around his neck and sobbed openly into his shoulder. Feeling her body tremble against him through her sobs, he felt his throat tighten and his hands shake from being hugged by his sister for the very first time. His arms slowly wounded around her and pulled her close to his chest.

Matthew had a lot of work to do in mending their severed bond, but progress was progress and he wasn’t going to take the chance for granted. 

He was going to be the real older brother he never got to be. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annnnd there you have it! Did you cry? Or at least felt close to? :^)
> 
> I spent the longest on this chapter if you couldn't tell but it's by far my favourite one because I'm a huge sucker for scenes where everyone cheers on a character in need, and then they get the power to face whatever conflict in their way head-on. It's cheesy and perhaps a bit cliche but I personally get really emotional during these kinds of scenes!
> 
> There's only 4 more chapters left to close this fanfic out and I just want to thank everyone for sticking around for this long, and getting this to 100+ kudos!! I could never have dreamed of my fanfic getting that much love and it makes me so incredibly happy to see your comments and reactions!
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading this chapter and feel free to leave a kudos and or comment if you'd like!


	30. Side Chapter - Where it All Began

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Healing takes time.

**Side Chapter - Where it All Began**

****

* * *

Being stuck in the hospital felt so...sterile. Uncomfortable. Juliet was appreciative of the hospitality and care that the hospital staff gave her, and the food wasn’t as bad as many people made it out to be, but it wasn’t the same as sleeping in the comfort of her own bed. She missed waking up in her comfortable bed, surrounded by the various stuffed animals she amassed over her travels. 

Having various tubes and wires tangling all around her wasn’t exactly her idea of ‘making herself at home’. 

But, complaining wasn’t going to get her anywhere so she just had to suck it up for a bit longer.

**“Champion Juliet, my report.”**

“Welcome back, Darkrai! How does everything look?”

**“There appears to still be a lot of damage to businesses and recreational facilities, but homes are starting to be repaired.”**

“Ha...That’s a relief. Hopefully everyone can go back to their homes soon.” She counted herself lucky that her flat came out unscathed, but if people were still displaced from their homes by the time she was discharged, she would welcome them into her flat if they didn’t mind sleeping on the couch. 

**“Indeed. How are you feeling?”**

“Hmmm…” Juliet hummed. “I honestly still feel a bit tired...on the emotional side, anyway.”

**“I see. Do you wish that I leave you alone, then?”**

“No! You can stay.” She crossed her arms over the railing on the roof, content with the gentle breeze brisking through her hair. “Now that I can remember things more clearly, I’ve had time to sit with my memories and come to terms with them. But, I’ve always wondered something…” Juliet looked to the Mythical Pokemon. “You still never told me how you met me. I mean, you don’t seem like the wandering type.”

**“I suppose you make a fair point. Though, what will you gain from this information?”**

“I’m not looking to gain anything. I’m just curious!”

 **“Curiosity...Hm. That’s very like you.”** Darkrai chuckled. **“Very well. Do you recall journeying to the Sinnoh region?”**

* * *

“Ugh, I can’t believe I spent so long at the library until they closed!” Juliet huffed, running with her arms bracing over her head to shield herself from the torrential rain. She barged into the Pokemon Centre, soaked from head to toe, leaving behind puddles of rain water by her feet.

“Oh my! Are you alright?” Nurse Joy asked worryingly with a fresh warm towel in her arms. “Here you go. Quite the storm out there, isn’t it?”

“Thank you, Nurse Joy! Sorry for the mess. It’s thundering out there too.” Juliet graciously took the offered towel, undid her low pigtails, before drying her hair thoroughly with it. She shivered uncomfortably, feeling the chill of the AC against her soaked form. She needed to take a bath and into dry pairs of clothes or else she was going to catch a cold at this rate. 

“Are there any beds left?”

“I’m sorry, but someone just took the last bed for the night. You’re more than welcome to stay here in the lobby if you’d like.”

“I see. Then, can I use the showers first?”

“Of course! Let me show you the way.”

Nurse Joy led her to the woman’s communal showers before leaving her to warm and wash herself off. There was nothing more comforting than taking a hot shower after returning from somewhere cold or escaping inclimate weather. Juliet took her time enjoying the warmth of the shower before jumping into spare clothes that were miraculously still dry within her bag. 

Walking out of the showers and quietly tiptoeing past the suites where trainers and even families were sleeping in, a light from a window caught her eye. She stopped in her tracks and looked outside of said window to see what looked like a small inn, across from the Pokemon Centre. 

Huh, how did she miss that? She adapted to sleeping in places that were far from ideal, but a soft bed sounded a lot more appealing than the floor of the Pokemon Centre. The rain had settled just enough for her to take the risk of running to the inn without getting drenched in the rain again. 

She only hoped that there would be a spare room for her so she didn’t go there for nothing.

After grabbing her things, she dashed out of the Pokemon Centre and into the inn that looked a lot more run down than she thought from what she saw from the window. By her standards, it didn’t look that bad - it was probably just really old, which carried character in its own right. 

The old man behind the counter turned to her and gave her a smile that for some reason, sent an unpleasant chill down her spine. She probably should have listened to her gut and left right away, lying that she mistaken the inn for somewhere else, but it felt like...something was drawing her to the place. 

_Like a Dustox to a streetlamp._

“Good evening, sir! Are there any rooms available?”

The old man’s smile only widened, looking more unsettling by the second by how far it stretched and crooked. “Why yes! We have plenty of room available, but because of this dreadful rain, you may stay free of charge!”

OK, something didn’t feel right.

But…

 _Something_ was telling her to stay. 

What was she doing?!

“Thank you very much, sir!” 

What was she saying?! 

Now it felt like, like she couldn’t control her own body! She could only watch herself being led to a non-descript room that was completely barren besides the single bed that sat in the middle of the room like she was in some kind of out of body experience. 

Then, her body lay back into the bed and the moment she closed her eyes, she found herself in a strange place, surrounded completely by trees. Her feet were covered in mud and dirt, with puddles littered all over like it had just rained. 

She felt a creeping presence right behind her, but when she turned around to look-

She woke up with her knees tucked to her chest, sitting on the floor of the Pokemon Centre, like she hadn’t left in the first place. 

Was that all just a dream? Did she imagine it all?

When she abruptly left the Pokemon Centre to check out the inn, it was completely dilapidated, with all the windows boarded up. Not a single soul had entered or even used that place for who knows how long. 

What was that place…?

* * *

“Huh...so that’s what happened…” Juliet hummed, before laughing openly and leaning against the railing. “I can’t believe I didn’t just book it like what my gut was telling me to do.”

**“I suppose, but I’d like to believe that the way things have transpired, it was for the best, wouldn’t you agree?”**

She closed her eyes and smiled. “You’re right. Even if those nightmares were a pain in the ass, they were signs. Signs that were telling me to face myself, even through the pain. Thank you, Darkrai.”

**“...You’re welcome, Champion Juliet.”**

It was funny how things could change from a single meeting, and purely by chance. What would have happened if she stayed at the Pokemon Centre during that storm? When she went to Unova, what if she didn’t take shelter in that abandoned house in Reversal Mountain? She clearly had a track record for being in dangerous situations, but she gained so much from each encounter that it didn’t matter how different things would have gone if she approached situations differently. 

Life wasn’t a video game where she could load up a different save file and work towards a different outcome. Life was about making decisions, dealing with the consequences, and moving forward, regardless of what happened. There were no such things as second chances once a decision had been made - but that just meant she was able to make wiser choices. 

No matter how many times life would beat her into the ground, she was always going to get back up.

Life wasn’t going to control her - she was going to control it from now on. 

And she wasn’t alone. She was never alone. Someone was always thinking about her, and she wanted to be that for someone else. No, she already was that for someone else. 

How many more ties will she bind with in the future?

“Yo! Juliet!” Brendan called out cheerfully, May following close behind him with something behind her back. The Hoenn Champion and Pokemon Coordinator flinched upon seeing the Nightmare Mythical Pokemon, making Juliet snicker in amusement. 

“S-Sorry. We weren’t expecting to see Darkrai as well.”

“You two both have Latias and Latios, though.”

“Y-Yeah, but! To think that you’d get a Mythical Pokemon as well. I’ve always thought you’d get a Jirachi or something. Suits you more.” May, realizing what she might have implied, flailed her arms in protest. “N-N-Not that Darkrai isn’t cool or anything-”

Darkrai chuckled. **“It’s alright if you find my appearance intimidating. I assure you that I mean no harm.”**

“Oh!! So polite and articulate!”

“That was a quick switch.” Brendan chuckled. “Anyway, we wanted to stop by to check how you were doing and maybe even catch up. We were originally a trio when we were kids, you know.”

“I suppose, but I wasn’t allowed to play or go outside as much as I would have liked.” Juliet looked out into the sky with a far-off smile. “It feels so long ago…”

Brendan shrugged. “To me, it doesn’t matter how often we hung out. The fact that we hung out at all is what matters.”

“Yeah, quit being all doom and gloom! All that matters is that we’re all together now so let’s try to get along like old times! Water under the bridge!” May retorted, pulling out the box of cupcakes she held behind her back. 

“Come on! Let’s enjoy some cupcakes! You too, Darkrai!”

**“Understood.”**

“Oh! That reminds me.” Brendan reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card and handed it to Juliet. “Cheren wanted to give this to you. He said he’ll talk to you properly in person later about it.”

“Cheren? He’s the Normal-type Gym Leader from Unova, right?”

“Yeah! He’s also a teacher at the Trainer’s school there.”

Juliet flipped the card over. “This is a business card for a principal at a trainer school in Alola?”

“Cheren told us briefly that he thinks you have what it takes to be a teacher. He has connections with the other Trainer’s schools around the world, but it sounds like there’s an opening for a TA in Alola.”

Her jaw dropped and she pointed at herself in disbelief. “Wait, me, a teacher?! Where did that come from?”

Brendan shrugged and laughed at her baffled reaction. “You’ll have to ask him about it if you can’t wait for him to approach you. But, now that I think about, ‘Teacher Juliet’ - that does have a nice ring to it.”

May covered her mouth as she chewed on her cupcake. “Galar doesn’t have a Trainer’s school, does it? Don’t you think it’d be great to be the first teacher for a Trainer’s school here?”

The thought had never crossed her mind and Juliet didn’t even notice that there was no Trainer’s school until May mentioned it. But, her, a teacher? She never considered herself to be the mentor type, but the idea of guiding the younger generation towards their goals and dreams honestly didn’t sound so bad. If there’s one thing she wanted to offer to all the aspiring trainer’s out there, it was encouragement. She didn’t want anyone else to experience the self-doubt and lack of confidence she endured in her youth and she genuinely believed that everyone had a special spark inside of them.

If she could help tap into their potentials…

Juliet hummed. “I guess so, but I think I need a lot more time to think about it.”

“I don’t blame you, considering all that you’ve been through. I’d say, take a nice, long deserved vacation, and come back to it!” May added cheerfully. 

“A long vacation...That sounds nice.” Juliet smiled dreamily. 

“Are you going to invite Leon?” May asked with a sly grin. “Maybe go somewhere romantic like Kalos? Unova’s pretty nice too-”

Juliet choked on her cupcake. “W-Why Leon, though?”

Brendan and May looked at each other and blinked before looking back at Juliet with narrow eyes. “We thought you two were dating? We’re not one to buy into rumors, or at least we try not to, but it’s kind of hard to ignore how people around the hospital are noticing how often you two are seen together especially in rehab.”

She grumbled embarrassingly to herself and looked off towards the side in a poor attempt to hide her blush. “I don’t know that we are but, there’s definitely something there as far as I know.”

 _“Something?”_ May squinted. “You call risking your lives to save each other, ‘something’?”

 **“Sorry to impose but I do think what Champion Juliet meant to say is ‘love’. I do recall her thanking Champion Leon for loving her, to which he responded in kind.”** Darkrai interjected, dark face covered in sprinkles and icing. 

Juliet blush deepened as she gasped. “Darkrai!”

“Awwwwww! That’s so sweet!”

“Good for you two.”

_“Stop!”_

* * *

“Keep going, J! You’re almost at the end”

Who knew physical rehab was so _exhausting?_ Juliet had never felt such heaviness in her legs and feet, as if they were made of lead or someone strapped iron balls around her ankles. The metal braces helped a lot to at least keep herself up right as she struggled to move one foot in front of the other, while balancing herself on the railings that were on opposite sides of her. Honestly, Leon’s cheer from the other end helped a lot because it felt like she didn’t have to struggle on her own since he was physically recovering as well. It was strange - was this a side-effect of being influenced by Dynamax? 

With one more push, she finally made it to the end and collapsed on the ground in relief. Yeesh - it was like she was a newborn Deerling taking its first steps. But from how hard she was panting, she might as well have run a marathon. “I...did it…”

“Congratulations! You made it to the end without our help!”

“Heh, I bet being cheered on by the Champion was what helped, huh?”

Juliet folded an arm over her eyes as she tried to catch her breath. “It...helped…”

“Ahaha! That’s the spirit! Alright, that’ll be it for today.”

Her nurses helped her up and guided her to a nearby bench next to Leon’s wheelchair. They handed her a fresh towel and a water bottle before leaving the two of them alone. Juliet downed half of the water battle in one go and slumped in her seat from exhaustion. “Physical rehab is so tiring…”

“But, you made it to the end! That’s awesome! Meanwhile, I’m still stuck in a wheelchair.” Leon chuckled.

“You can move your legs and feet though, right?”

“Thank Arceus I can. I really want to be able to walk around soon instead of sitting all the time.”

“I bet you’re itching to train and exercise, huh?” Juliet looked down at her body and then at his. Even in his hospital gown, she knew he was much more fit than her based on his fitted jersey. “Maybe I should get into exercising more. Archery gives me upper body strength but my endurance is a joke.”

“You know, I’ve always wanted to give archery a try. I only know martial arts.” Well, hopefully he still could given the circumstance.

“Really? Like karate? That’s so cool!”

Leon bashfully rubbed the back of his neck. “You think so?”

“Of course I do! Seems like a pretty handy skill to have if you’re ever in a pinch. Though, I can’t imagine you punching someone-”

“He almost did, though.” Sonia giggled, joining them on the bench. Juliet’s jaw dropped and whipped her head to Leon who blushed heavily and held a finger up to his lips desperately so she wouldn’t elaborate. 

“Seriously?! Why?” Juliet encouraged. 

“I think he was 12 at the time, it was early on in his reign as Champion, and some kids were picking on Hop. Of course, in the heat of the moment, he got really mad and almost hit one of them but I managed to pull him back in time. Yamper managed to chase those rascals away.”

Juliet stifled a snort and looked at Leon with a growing smile, who could only grumble embarrassingly to himself. Of course the only times where Leon would get viscerally angry, was when someone he cared about was in trouble. Thinking about it now, she technically experienced it first hand. It was a little endearing. “Can’t really blame you honestly. If I saw anyone picking on Courtney, I would have thrown hands.”

“Still, can’t believe I almost lost it.” Leon laughed nervously. 

“...I’m guessing you came here not to just tell us embarrassing stories from your childhood. Though, I won’t complain if you are. I’d love to hear more, Sonia-”

“Please don’t-”

“Maybe another time, Juliet. I actually came by to update you on what Gran and I have theorized about your experiences with Dynamax.” Sonia looked to the side with trepidation. “As well as how that ties in with Rose’s methods and motives.”

Juliet and Leon looked at each other, understandably nervous about what Sonia and Professor Magnolia had discovered, but mainly if the results were against their benefit. They were told they were going to recover, but the relationship between Dynamax and people was still uncharted territory. 

“...What did you find out? Or think you found out?” Juliet asked.

Sonia cleared her throat. “Dynamax is a power that makes Pokemon grow 20x their normal size, amplifying their power and abilities. Dynamax is achieved when Pokemon come into contact with concentrated levels of Galar particles that are found within Power Spots. For a long time we just assumed that Galar particles were harmless to us because there were no visible side effects as far as documentation goes.”

Juliet gulped nervously. “And I’m guessing you and Professor Magnolia discovered otherwise?”

“Yes, and you, Leon, and Rose are living examples of that theory.”

“W-We are?” Leon uttered in disbelief.

“Yes. A little bit of exposure doesn’t affect us at all but if Pokemon Dynamax when exposed to Galar particles in concentration, how would that affect people? We don’t have any powers or abilities that Pokemon have so there’s nothing to amplify. So, where does Dynamax end up? Gran and I believe that Dynamax impacts humans on a more...emotional and mental level. Hopes, dreams, goals, happiness, sadness - it’s through those various things that makes us motivated and strong in a different kind of way. When you maximize the feeling behind those ambitions and desires, what does that turn into?” Sonia looked at them seriously. “Obsessions.”

Juliet’s eyes widened, slowly piecing everything together. “So, the reason why Rose was so obsessed with saving Galar was because-”

“Yeah. Since Eternatus is basically made up of a limitless supply of Galar particles, being exposed to it for who knows how long, during experiments, the exposure was slowly warping and intensifying his desire to complete his goal.”

Juliet looked down at her knees in complete shock. “...And when someone becomes obsessed, they become irrational and even delusional…”

“So…” Leon tightened his hands into tight fists. “How would that affect Rose’s charges? If he wasn’t himself because of being influenced by Dynamax, wouldn’t he have to get a mental evaluation?”

Sonia sighed and shrugged. “That, I don’t know. I told Anabel and Looker about it, but it seems that even they don’t know how to use that information for now especially since this is just a theory.”

“...Does that mean Rose isn’t as bad as we thought?”

“It’s probably a lot more complicated than that…”

“Then, how did it affect us?” Juliet asked. 

“For Leon, the crown and suit of armor Rose made him wear was made with Galar particles that were likely extracted from Eternatus itself, so he was directly linked to it and thus, could control it for that purpose.” Sonia bit her lip, unsure if she wanted to elaborate further. Yes, she had to. She needed to be transparent, especially towards her childhood friend. “The reason why Leon was able to harness its power with ease was...because of his loyalty to the Galar region. That’s why Rose chose Leon.”

Leon let out a shaky sigh, one that sounded like he was holding back tears. Even if Rose wasn’t completely himself, it didn’t change the fact that he had used him for a purpose that he didn’t have a say in. It still made him want to drown in guilt. His shaky breaths ceased for a moment, when Juliet gingerly took one of his hands and gave it a comforting squeeze. He smiled gently and squeezed back. 

“And me?” Juliet asked again, diverting the uncomfortable topic away from Leon to her this time.

“Darkrai was overwhelmed by the power of Dynamax and in turn, released it through an attack that you took the brunt of. In your case, the power of Dynamax amplified...your trauma and insecurities, within a nightmare on top of it.” 

“That’s putting it bluntly.” Juliet chuckled wryly. 

“I’m sorry, but I had a feeling you wouldn’t want me to sugarcoat it.” Sonia replied sheepishly.

“Can’t really do that in the world of research as a Pokemon Professor. Which reminds me - congratulations, Sonia! When the both of us get discharged, let’s throw a party for you-” Juliet grinned.

“You don’t have to! I think you two deserve a party more than me after everything you’ve been through-”

“In that case, let’s throw a party for all of us - to celebrate for saving Galar!”

“Now that sounds more like it,” Sonia laughed cheerfully. “Thanks for hearing me out, you two. There’s still a lot Gran and I have to iron out and see if our theory holds enough credibility so we can move forward from there. For now though, I’ll leave the both of you Luvdiscs to yourselves~”

Juliet sputtered. “L-Luvdiscs?!”

“Oh come on, don’t play dumb. Everyone in the hospital is talking about how close you two are, hee hee!” Sonia winked as she left. “Why else would you guys be holding hands all the time?”

Watching Sonia leave with a smug smile on her face, Juliet pouted. First Brendan and May, and now Sonia. Part of her wanted to stay in the hospital and away from the world that was inevitably going to bombard her with questions about the nature of her relationship with Leon, but at the same time, she wanted to get to a place where she can happily hold his hand out in the open. 

“Leon? Are you OK?” Seeing how he didn’t answer, he still felt conflicted and confused about Rose, and she wasn’t one to force answers out of him especially since she understood that he probably didn’t have one. Instead, she leaned in close and gently brought his head to her shoulder, which in response made him clutch to the back of her hospital gown. She could feel him holding back his tears from how he would rasp and breathe unevenly into her shoulder, making her heart ache at the fact that he probably hadn’t gotten the chance to really...let go. Release. Get catharsis. 

Sometimes when so much has happened, none of it really sinks in until later. Or in this case, the weight of everything must have crashed down on him all at once.

Juliet held him tightly, stroking his hair and humming the soothing melody she remembered singing to Maya many nights ago in her dreams. She wasn’t going to make any jokes or try to say anything to lighten the mood because right now, he was grieving. And she wasn’t going to take that away from him. 

But, what she was going to do was keep holding onto him - for as long as he needed.

* * *

“Chief, your forehead is going to be permanently creased the longer you furrow your eyebrows like that.”

Anabel let out an exasperated sigh for the 5th time of the day. She didn’t want to feel frustrated but the information that Sonia had disclosed to her made the case infinitely more complicated. Even if they were still tentative theories, a lot of what Sonia said explained a lot more before the agent even got a chance to properly interrogate Rose because of how closely and protectively the health officials were monitoring his health. He sustained no injuries, and as far as she could tell, he was perfectly healthy. 

It was only a matter of time that he’d be evaluated mentally, and that meant there was a chance he could be relieved of all charges because he could be diagnosed as insane - but even that wasn’t black and white as it seemed. If there had been a factor that influenced his behaviour, he’d still be held liable, but it meant that he didn’t act purely of his own accord. The disaster with Eternatus had only just ended a few days ago, and there were more questions than answers in regards to its existence and how it only deepened the lore behind the Dynamax Phenomenon. 

There were so many unknowns and so little time-

“Chief!” Looker called again. “You’re getting stuck in your own head again. Relax.”

“...Sorry, Looker. You’re right. It would have been nice if this case could close itself once we’ve interrogated Rose and put him on trial but, it looks like we got our work cut out for us.” Anabel pressed her fingers to her forehead, feeling a migraine creep up from the stress.

“I know but, I think this gives us a greater opportunity to be as thorough as possible. Besides, HQ isn’t pressuring us to get the job done - what kind of officers would we be if we rushed the most important part to this whole investigation?”

“I just feel bad knowing that it’ll take a while for us to have an answer for the people of Galar. No one’s loyalty can be overturned overnight, even after experiencing all that. If it’s not HQ pressuring us, it’s the public.”

“And we’re doing all we can to appease them with what we know so far. Have you talked with Leon or Juliet yet?” Looker asked.

“No, not yet. I was hoping to get a word from Rose first since he’s the prime suspect. But, I haven’t been allowed even a short interview yet.” Anabel turned her back away from Rose’s room to get some fresh air, only for a doctor to come out of the room and call her back.

“Miss Anabel, Mister Looker - Rose would like a word with you.”

_Finally._

“Thank you very much.” Anabel bowed politely before entering the room to see Rose sitting up in his bed with a blank expression on his face. There wasn’t anything sinister about it, or anything cunning lurking beneath - it honestly looked like he had been completely drained of who he was, leaving behind nothing but a tired man. It was a far cry from the maniacal man he was on the Darkest Day and during their confrontation. The madness she saw in those emerald eyes was completely gone, leaving them hollow and she would daresay, darkened with remorse.

Maybe Sonia’s theory was right after all, and Anabel had been too harsh on him, because the Rose she was seeing right now was one where he looked both freed and trapped at the same time. Freed from Eternatus’ influence, but trapped with the repercussions. 

“Chairman Rose.”

Rose barely acknowledged her greeting with a small nod. “Yes?”

“Are you ready to talk about what happened?”

“...Yes. I’ll cooperate and tell you everything that I know and remember. But first, there’s something that I need to say.”

Anabel raised a brow. “What is it?” 

He took a deep breath before speaking. “...Though I don’t understand everything that happened within the last 10 years, I won’t lie and say I didn’t notice the signs near the beginning. I’d like to believe that I truly always had Galar’s best interest in mind, but I became desperate and selfish, thinking that this region belonged to me to go that far. I fully acknowledge that I was...brainwashed for lack of a better word, but I should have considered the risks more carefully from the start.”

“So, assuming that you’re admitting all that with a clear mind, you’re basically reassuring us that you aren’t going to use the insanity defense in your testimony?” 

“...That is correct.”

Anabel sighed and crossed her arms. “I see. Thank you, Rose. That definitely makes things a bit easier to work with. But, that being said, you’ll still be mentally evaluated to see if your words hold any truth and sincerity to them, but I’m getting ahead of myself. For now, let’s focus on how all of this started, and why.”

Looker had just finished setting up a tripod with a camera mounted, aimed directly at Rose, before hitting the record button. 

“Whenever you’re ready Rose. What was your motive behind the Darkest Day and how did you get the resources to make it happen?”

* * *

“...Can’t I leave the hospital yet?” Juliet pouted, watching her brother scribble something on a clipboard with focused eyes. He re-adjusted his glasses and snorted at his sister’s impatience. He couldn’t blame her though. Long hospital stays made most people antsy and it probably didn’t help much for someone who had a fear of blood and needles like Juliet. 

“Two more days at most. I want to be absolutely sure you’re OK. I mean, you could have fallen into a vegetative state, you know.”

“Being extra protective to make up for lost time?” She joked cheekily. 

Matthew rolled his eyes and patted her on the head. “It’s my job just as much as it is my duty as your older brother-”

“Excuse me-”

Juliet turned her attention to the door and beamed upon seeing Leon. It seemed that he upgraded from being confined into a wheelchair, to using a walker to get around. He was recovering a bit slower than her because of the earlier injuries sustained after his encounter with Eternatus, but it put her heart at ease to finally see him able to hold up his weight for the most part. “Hey, Lee! Look at you! You’re almost walking on your own!”

“Hey, J. And yeah, it feels great to be back on my feet even if I need a bit of support.” Leon grinned gently. “Are you free right now?”

“She is now, Champion. Let me just help you get seated.” Matthew carefully guided Leon to a chair by Juliet’s bedside. Once Leon was seated, both him and Juliet fully expected the doctor to give them some privacy, but it didn't seem he got the memo.

Or so they thought. 

Noticing how intently they were staring at him, he smirked. “Oh, sorry. Am I not welcome?”

_“Matthew.”_

“Alright, alright. I’m out. Just press the call button if you need me.” Matthew relented with a hearty laugh and left the hospital room to give the two a moment for themselves. Leon turned his attention back to Juliet from watching her brother leave and shot her a wry smile. 

“It seems like you two are getting along.”

“Something like that. Anyway, what’s up?”

Leon opened his mouth to talk, before abruptly closing it upon seeing the bruises wrapped around her neck. As if someone had choked her. His hands began to shake, vividly recounting the terrifying moment where his...his hands were wrapped around her throat, with the full intent to kill her. Even if he was possessed, his body had _hurt_ her. His hands had _hurt_ her. Before the overwhelming feeling of guilt could wash over him and drown him once more, he felt her gently tug on his hands until they were open, palms up, on her lap. She traced along the creases of his palm, and dragged her fingers up and down his own, which helped steady his shaky breathing and rapid heart beat. 

“I know what you’re thinking and yes, these hands of yours did try to hurt me. But, look at them now. Even with how rough they are from years of battling and training, can’t you see how gentle they are? When you’re petting your Pokemon, or even when you’re holding my hand - these hands of yours offer nothing but warmth and love.” Juliet confided honestly and warmly. She lifted one of his hands and pressed her hand up, flat against his palm. “Hee hee, my hands are small in comparison.”

It was true, but even though her fingers were slender and dainty, they were strong - just like the person they belonged to. His finger curled instinctively through her fingers, like they were meant to be laced together in order to protect the love that she offered through her fingertips. Her fingers followed, folding over his bandaged knuckles and basking in the loving warmth that radiated through his palm. 

“Feel better?” She asked softly.

Leon took a deep breath and sighed in content. He felt his shoulders relax considerably and he felt his heart calm down as well. Who knew all he had to do was just hold her hand? Maybe it was her way of absorbing some of his worries through the simple, yet comforting gesture. That was something he was going to treasure. “Yeah. Thank you, J.”

She gave him one of her bright smiles that he loved so much. “Good. The hospital is already so doom and gloom and we don’t need any more of that. Were you going to say something?”

“Oh, right.” With his free hand, Leon reached into the pocket of his hospital gown and fished out her Heart Scale. The one he used as a ‘lucky charm’. Part of him felt a little sad having to return it, but he did promise that he was going to give it back when they saw each other again. “This is yours. Thanks for letting me hang on to it for all these years-”

Juliet stared at the Heart Scale with flushed cheeks. “Oh...Are you sure?”

Leon raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t I be? You told me to give it back to you when we’d see each other again.”

Then her eyes shifted to the side and her blush deepened. “I...uhhhh...don’t mind if you keep it.”

“Why are you being bashful all of a sudden?”

Juliet grumbled something under her breath and met his gaze again. Did she really have to say something so cheesy out loud? Here goes nothing…”When I gave you that Heart Scale all those years ago, I....I was actually giving you my heart. “

…

Leon’s face erupted in a deep shade of red and he looked down at the Heart Scale with his jaw dropped. This...This whole time he had been hanging onto Juliet’s heart and he hadn’t realized it?! Arceus, he knew he was dense but this was on a whole different level! “O-Oh…”

“I mean, if you don’t want it anymore-”

“No, no, no, it’s not that I don’t! It’s just...I had no idea you felt that way…”

“I didn’t really know either but, if I was going to say good-bye to you, I wanted it to have...impact. So, you wouldn’t forget me.”

“I could never forget someone like you. I told you that before.” Leon chuckled lightly. He looked down at the Heart Scale and smiled fondly. All this time of thinking his feelings were one-sided, he had her heart all along? His heart fluttered uncontrollably from the rush of tender feelings. It felt like he was 16 all over again. 

“But, in that case,” He reached into his other pocket and pulled out his Heart Scale. He didn’t carry it around as often as he did for hers, so the condition for it was practically immaculate. He offered it to her with expectant eyes. “If you’re giving me your heart, it’s only right that I give you mine.”

Juliet took a sharp in-take of breath and it suddenly got very warm all of a sudden. “Using my line against me? Not fair.”

“Hey, it takes two to tango, right?”

“That’s one way of looking at it.” Juliet giggled. She picked up the smooth scale from his hand and gazed at it longingly. It shimmered and sparkled in the sun, casting the bleak hospital room with colourful rays. Leon’s heart. So bright and warm. No, it wasn’t just his heart that was those things. 

All of him was bright and warm. 

“Juliet.” 

“Hm?” Juliet looked over to him, only to have her chin gently grasped between his thumb and index finger. She had never seen so much love and devotion swimming in anyone’s eyes before, and his golden eyes practically overflowed with those feelings. Her breath got caught in her throat, leaving her utterly speechless as he closed the gap and she could feel his warm breath against her parted lips. His golden eyes flitted to hers, looking for any signs of discomfort or regrets. Even though he had waited 8 years for this moment, to seal his undying affections with a kiss, he wanted to be absolutely sure that she wanted it too. Her eyes shimmered, welcoming his earnest feelings with excitement. 

His heart swelled, so glad that they finally had this moment. Both of their eyes fluttered closed, their noses brushing against each other-

“Ah! There you are Le-”

…

Leon rarely swore, but having their moment interrupted was enough to make him mutter, “Are you fucking kidding me…” He slowly turned his head to the owner of the voice, who was the nurse that tended to his wounds and oversaw his physical rehab schedule. Locking eyes with the Champion and noticing the boiling disappointment in his gaze, made the nurse slowly back out of the room with a meek, “Sorry…”

Leon hung his head in anguish. So close, yet so far-

“Leon.”

“Hm?” Leon lifted his head, only to be greeted with the feeling of Juliet’s lips against his cheek. He thought his heart burst out of his chest, drowning him in the feeling of warmth and joy from such a simple gesture of affection. He probably looked stupid with how dopey his smile was. 

Juliet giggled lightly and patted his hands. “Maybe the hospital isn’t the most romantic setting.”

He pouted. “You’re probably right…”

“You should go see what’s up. I’m sure your nurse didn’t mean it.”

“Yeah...But, before that,” Leon gingerly grabbed one of her hands and pressed his lips against the back of it. It was Juliet’s turn to crack a dopey smile on her face from the smooth gesture. He didn’t pull away immediately, opting to flash her a playful smile against her hand when their gazes met. “I’ll see you again later?”

Juliet smiled adoringly. “Looking forward to it.”

* * *

When Juliet had woken up from a nap, she barely had a moment to register her uncle, aunt, and cousin entering her room with armfuls of gift baskets and flowers. Courtney nearly dropped the vase she was holding out of sheer excitement and quickly placed it on a table before practically launching herself onto Juliet’s bed. Juliet barely caught her cousin’s hug and not even a second later did she start to sob into her hospital gown.

“I...I was so worried! I thought you weren’t gonna ever wake up!!” Courtney wailed, hugging her tighter. Juliet chuckled weakly and gingerly stroked her cousin’s hair as Tiffany and Dave joined on the other side of the bed with watering eyes. Tiffany cupped both of her cheeks and sniffled. Besides the bandages on her face, she was warm and alive. Her smile was small, but she knew she was happy. A happiness that she vowed to protect. 

Tiffany tenderly cradled her face. “How are you feeling, sweetie? And be honest.”

Juliet paused for a moment before answering. “...Drained. Like I came back from a long, long battle. But, I’m going to be OK now.”

Tiffany’s lip quivered from her response and gently pressed her lips against her forehead, holding her close, but gently. “G-Good. I’m...so happy to hear that. You deserve nothing less.”

“Thanks, mom-” 

Courtney lifted up her head and Tiffany pulled back abruptly with wide eyes. Dave could only smile gently at Juliet’s supposed slip up. Juliet, on the other hand, blushed profusely at accidentally calling her aunt ‘mom’. It was an innocent mistake, and she’d be lying to herself if she said she didn’t regard her aunt as more of a mom than her biological one was, but even so it was a bit uncalled for. 

“Crap, that came out wrong. I’m sorry, auntie, I didn’t mean to-”

“...I don’t mind.”

“...Huh?”

Tears streamed down Tiffany’s face, pulling Juliet back into a loving hug. “When we took you under our care, a part of me...wanted to hear you call me your mom. Of course, considering what you went through with my sister, it wasn’t right to bring it up when your wounds were still fresh. It wasn’t right for me to be selfish. So, hearing you call me ‘mom’ is just…you have no idea how happy that makes me.”

“...You really don’t mind?” Juliet whispered.

“Sweetie, you can call me whatever you want. Whatever makes you happy, makes me happy. Even if you didn’t come from my womb, I don’t see you as anything less than my daughter.”

Juliet whimpered and buried her face into her aunt’s shoulder, sobbing quietly as her aunt cooed and gently rocked her. For the longest time, she didn’t think she had a real home, a real family, to return to, but all this time, it was right in front of her. In this case, sometimes a real family is one that you find later on, not the one you were born into. 

And that familial bond transcends bloodlines.

Juliet pulled back and smiled. “Mom?”

Tiffany returned her smile with her own. “Yes, sweetie?”

“I love you.” Juliet looked to Dave. “You too, dad. And…” Then at Courtney. “My little sister, Courtney.”

Courtney was practically glowing and she shared a knowing glance with Dave who could only smile just as brightly and joined in on the family hug. They all laughed joyously, and though they’ve shared many laughs over the years, this was the first time they laughed as a real, loving family. 

And there was no doubt that there would be more in the future.

* * *

Juliet wasn’t expecting to wake up in the middle of the night by something (or maybe somethings?) licking her hands. Her face scrunched up tiredly and it took a lot of will-power to crack her eyelids open, only for them to snap wide open upon seeing what was paying her a late night visit. She smiled gently and scratched both of their ears affectionately, giggling to herself seeing their eyes close in content. 

“Zacian, Zamazenta, how’d you two get in here…?”

They didn’t say a word, rather answering her question with eyes of guilt and regret. 

**“It seems that they came to check on you.”**

Juliet turned her head to the darker side of the room to see Darkrai rise from the floor. The two legendaries immediately bared their fangs and growled at his appearance but she shushed and cooed them gently, reassuring them that he didn’t mean any harm.

“It’s OK, you two. He wasn’t himself, so he didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I promise.”

Both canines looked at Juliet and then back at Darkrai, before bowing their heads apologetically. 

**“It’s alright. If our roles were switched, I too would have reacted the same. I’m deeply sorry for almost harming you both, even if I was in immense pain.”**

Zacien and Zamazenta’s tails swooshed back and forth against the ground - happy and pleased with knowing any threats that may have lingered in the Galar region, were none. They returned their attention back to Juliet, both of them standing on their hind legs to lick her face, making her giggle uncontrollably. For Legendary Pokemon that saved an entire region, they were a lot more affectionate than she thought they’d be. Perhaps at the end of the day even if they were heroes, at their core they were still Pokemon, capable of feeling love and joy given to them by humans.

“Thank you for checking on me. I’m doing much better now! You two should go back to Slumbering Weald to rest too. I bet you two are just as tired from that battle-”

**“They have something they want to give you.”**

“They do?” Juliet blinked, squinting her eyes and noticing something lodged in between Zacian’s fangs. She plucked the object, flipping it back and forth, and realizing that it was a badge of some sort. Since it was given to her by Zacian and Zamazenta, she half-expected it to have a sword and shield engraved into the metal, but instead was what looked like a scepter. 

“Is there a scepter on this badge?”

**“It seems like you’ve earned both of their respects. The courage to fight, the selflessness to protect, and the voice to lead - you’ve displayed all of those things. The legends speak of two heroes and two Legendary Pokemon, but you’ve awakened as a third hero as Galar’s Tactician. That badge is to symbolize that.”**

Her jaw dropped and she stared down at the badge. Galar’s Tactician...it did have a nice ring to it and it was an astounding award and title to be given, by Zacian and Zamazenta no less. The way it was given to her was the best way it could have happened. No fanfare or applause - just a private exchange so the moment was only hers. 

Like a sacred ceremony.

“Zacian...Zamazenta...Thank you. I’m glad I could help.”

They gave her one last nuzzle and a glance back before phasing through the door in a veil of fog, leaving behind only the sounds of wistful howls. Juliet looked down at her badge before crawling back under the covers of bed and holding it close to her heart. 

Her smile widened upon feeling a ghost hand brush her hair gently as she slipped back to sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my favourite events from the DS era of Pokemon games was the Darkrai event where you enter the abandoned inn in Canalave City and this creepy guy encourages you to sleep in the bed and then you're transported to Newmoon Island where Darkrai resides! This event played a huge role in terms of inspiration that kick started a lot of interesting things I could explore with this fanfic so I'm really glad I could put that into context in this chapter!
> 
> The whole deal with how Dynamax effects humans actually came to me recently and I personally think it adds another layer of grey to the pros and cons of the phenomenon and how it'll impact Galar's society. 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading this chapter and feel free to leave a kudos and or comment if you'd like!


	31. Twilight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What lies ahead when one door closes and another opens?

**Chapter 23 - Twilight**

* * *

There was a lot of work that had to be done in cleaning up the mess that Rose caused and left behind shortly after his arrest. Houses, stores, and buildings could be rebuilt but lives couldn’t be replaced and it was a miracle that there weren’t any casualties as result from the catastrophe. There were a handful of injured civilians and Pokemon in each city, but thanks to everyone’s cooperation and diligence, they were able to prevent more cataclysmic damage. But, everyone’s morale was rather low.

The talks about Rose’s arrest was a hot topic that didn’t show any signs of stopping as the days went on, and that inevitably put Macro Cosmos under the spotlight as well for not very good reasons. Every employee was scrutinized and criticized by the public, demanding answers as to why no one said or did anything to intervene before things took a turn for the worst. Those who weren’t helping with the restoration efforts could be seen protesting outside of Rose Tower, ordering them to compensate for all that was lost in the disaster.

On the bright side, Hop and Gloria were at the forefront of news headlines and articles, citing them as the modern era heroes of the Galar region. But, don’t think for a second that Juliet was left out from the deserved spotlight. She was praised as being the quick-witted tactician who inspired and brought together trainers from all over the world towards leading the cause of protecting the Wild Area from rampaging Dynamaxed and Gigantamax Pokemon. The other Raid Teams and international trainers that came to their aid were hard at work with helping the recovery efforts as well, which made the progress of opening up the region much more efficient. Seeing this collaboration was what citizens of Galar needed to step up their game in bringing their home back to its original beauty. 

Trainers and Pokemon alike were working in harmony with each other, so life could go on and everyone could hopefully live peacefully again. There was a collective feeling of uncertainty that many people were anxious about from the lack of leadership now that Rose was arrested for his crimes. As far as anyone knew, he didn’t have any children to take over as his successor and because Oleana was an accomplice in his plans, she couldn’t take over despite being the vice-president of the company. That was all people really knew about Rose’s arrest, and not much else was added because of how complicated the case was. Of course, no one else knew that besides those who were directly involved.

There were murmurings amongst the public that Leon was the next sensible option to take over the company since he worked closely with the former Chairman, but he was hardly in the mindset to think about such things when he was still recovering from his injuries and the Champion Cup would be postponed until he got better. 

Macro Cosmos could wait. 

He was finally scheduled to be discharged by the end of the week, but the doctors strongly reminded him to not even think about jumping straight into Pokemon battles once he was out. But he couldn’t help it. The Champion Cup was his favourite event of the year and meant so much to him that he couldn’t wait any longer. His battle prowess was going to stale the longer he remained in the hospital. 

So, any chance he got, he would spend it lightly training his Pokemon on the roof of the hospital. Of course he wasn’t allowed to go all out or unleash any attacks, but he made the most of it with mental training like meditation. Back when he trained under Mustard’s tutelage, he developed the habit of doing Tai Chi to clear his head and relax his body so he could ‘become one’ with his Pokemon, as he was taught. 

But when he got on the roof and saw that Juliet was there with her Pokemon, he mentally put a raincheck on his prior plans. 

“Hi, Lee!” She called over cheerfully. He smiled gently and took the empty spot next to her on the bench. 

“Hey, J. How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling pretty good. I finally went through the last bits of testing and everything came back normal. I’m going to be discharged tomorrow. How about you?”

“I’m happy to hear that! Lucky that you get to leave tomorrow. I have to wait until Friday.”

“Hang in there. I’m not a fan of staying at hospitals either. Especially since everyone is cleaning up the mess and we’re stuck here.”

“Yeah...but it sounds like everything is going smoothly. I can’t wait to jump onto the pitch again.” Ah...he was really itching for a battle. Now that he thought about it, they still hadn’t battled each other yet. Well, properly. It would have been the perfect opportunity to, but he didn’t really want to battle her just yet. Not so soon after everything that happened.

He wondered how she was processing it all and whether she was peacefully coming to terms with her wounds?

They hadn’t told her yet about what they had seen in their memories and maybe now wasn’t the time to tell her, but at the same time, it wasn’t right to hide the fact that they had seen some of the darker moments of her life. 

Moments that she buried so neither her nor anyone would have to see them. 

“You’re looking at me funny, Leon. What’s up?”

He really should be more self-aware. 

“I-It’s nothing...I was only wondering how you were faring mentally and emotionally. And...if there was anything I could do to help.”

“You’re so sweet, Lee. Thank you for looking out for me. All you need to do for me, is to keep being you. I’d like to think I’m pretty OK with recognizing when I’m upset and learning to smile through it, but being able to talk it out with a therapist, the same therapist I talked to when I was younger at that, again has been helping a lot too. To be honest…” Juliet looked down at her hands. “It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that I’m a victim of gaslighting and emotional abuse. I mean, those are pretty dark words, you know? Even with the help I got in the past for it, a part of me didn’t want to admit that I still needed help. But, brushing them aside doesn’t make them go away and smiling is only a temporary solution. I needed professional help. But, sometimes I’d feel too scared to go through with it.”

“Juliet…”

“But, now, I’m getting the help I need to close these wounds for good. And even if there are scars left behind, reminding me of my demons, that’s OK. They may never go away but I’d like to see them as proof of my growth!” Juliet ended optimistically. 

“Always looking on the bright side, huh? That’s the spirit!” He rested a hand over top of her own. “And remember that you can count on me, anytime and anywhere.”

She grinned knowingly and nudged the side of her head against his shoulder affectionately as she laced her fingers with his. “Right back at you. You can count on me too.”

His warm laughter rang through the air, making her heart bubble pleasantly with affection towards the Champion. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“I’m glad. Now, hurry up and send out Charizard! It’s rude to make a lady wait.” Juliet teased, gesturing to how her Flygon had been staring expectantly at Leon the whole time. 

“Alright, alright! Sorry for making you wait, Tiki.” Along with Charizard, he sent out his other Pokemon so they could get some fresh air as well. Upon seeing Charizard, Tiki’s eyes lit up excitedly and began nuzzling her cheek against his, making him blush and purr pleasantly. Pistachio wasn’t far behind and stood up on his hind legs to grab the orange dragon’s attention. Charizard grinned and lowered his neck far enough to nuzzle the baby Pokemon. The Trapinch whined happily before climbing on top of his back. Charizard bounded over to the pair of trainers, and tenderly nudged his snout against Juliet’s cheek - a gesture that was long overdue after all that she had been through. After all, any important person to Leon, meant that they were important to Charizard too. Knowing that she meant something dear to Leon, he’d treat her just the same. 

“Awwww, thanks Charizard! You’ve been a good mate to Tiki and I trust that you’ll treat her well.” Juliet cooed. The mere mention of the word ‘mate’, made Charizard’s blush deepen as he watched Tiki being petted by Leon, who echoed back the same sentiment. 

“Don’t let us keep you three waiting! You guys are going for a flight, right? Be careful and hang on tight to Charizard, Pistachio!” Juliet reminded sternly. The three Pokemon nodded obediently before taking to the skies and flew across Hammerlocke. Darkrai, who had gone to check on the restoration efforts, regarded the flying duo with a polite nod before hovering back to Juliet’s side. 

**“Champion Juliet.”**

“Still won’t give up on the Champion part, huh?”

**“Would you prefer if I call you ‘Master’ instead?”**

Juliet’s face scrunched up in disgust. “Absolutely not.”

**“Then, Champion it is. Anyway, progress is going smoothly as far as I can tell and I overheard some staff members discussing that Wyndon Stadium will re-open next week.”**

“Really?! That’s awesome! Did they say anything about the Champion Cup?” Leon asked eagerly. 

**“Yes, but there seems to be some issues regarding that. Since...the previous Chairman is no longer representing the event, they’re a bit unsure of how to move forward from here.”**

“Makes sense...the main factor of the Gym Challenge and Champion Cup being able to run is because of sponsors that are affiliated with Macros Cosmos. I bet they’re scrambling to find someone to take over.” Juliet mumbled uneasily. “Then again, their reputation is probably stained forever because of this.”

“Well, why don’t we run the event?” Leon suggested nonchalantly. 

Juliet gawked at him. “What do you mean, ‘we’?”

“Surely the sponsors aren’t going to drop from the event just like that. I’d like to think after years of being associated with the Pokemon League, they developed a bit of loyalty towards it.”

“Sooooooo…? Are you going to take over Macros Cosmos or something?”

Leon shook his head. If he had any ounce of business experience in him, maybe he’d consider it, but he wasn’t at all qualified to take over the reins of a huge conglomerate company no matter how closely he worked with Rose and Oleana. 

And...in his opinion, he wanted to take a more collaborative approach. It would be beneficial if there was someone to oversee all the decisions being made and the like, but relying on one or two people to make life-changing decisions on behalf of everyone didn’t sit well with him. And he certainly didn’t want to be the one making those decisions because who’s to say if they were actually good? He will always feel partially at fault for not acting on his suspicions earlier and only thought about the Champion Cup. Rose’s heart was in the right place, but someone should have been his voice of reason when he went too far and to shake him out of it. Even with what Sonia told them about Eternatus’ influence, it didn’t change the fact that he could’ve done more. 

Leon believed that everyone had the power to create change and everyone’s voices deserved to be heard. 

“No. I don’t have Rose’s business experience and learning through experience doesn’t exactly...align with my own personal interests.”

“Hmmm, yeah. I can’t really imagine you stepping into Rose’s role. You’re definitely a man of action rather than a man of business. But, what exactly do you have in mind?” Juliet asked curiously. 

“I have some ideas that need to be worked through, so don’t laugh. But, don’t you think...power should be given back to the people? I mean, one of the main reasons why Rose probably went down this path was because he was only thinking of everyone’s future, and that Eternatus made him believe that this was the only way, and he had to be solely responsible for it. So…” Leon looked up to the sky. 

“I think what Galar really needs is not just one leader - all of us play an important role in keeping it thriving for generations to come.”

Juliet smirked. “Sounds like you were inspired by someone else’s speech.”

He turned to her sheepishly. “I was in and out of consciousness when Brendan brought me to the hospital, and that clip you recorded played over and over so I took a lot from it. Probably helped me recover, honestly. You were always pretty good at articulating how people are feeling and encouraging them to take a stand.”

“All good advice, if I do say so myself. But, it’s about time I start applying that for myself.”

Leon chuckled. “We’re all a work-in-progress so you’re hardly alone in that.”

“Thanks, but I see where you’re coming from. A lot of times when one person has too much power, it corrupts them without them even realizing it. I think it would also lessen the burden if multiple people shared the responsibilities.” But then Juliet sighed and shrugged. 

“But, what we’re saying is just all talk. Who knows how much more complicated it is?”

“It’s better than not having a plan at all. Even if it is just a pipe dream.”

* * *

Lucky for them, the Gym Leaders had been working closely with the sponsors that were plastered on their uniforms in their respective towns so when Leon approached them about his plan on hosting the rest of the Champion Cup themselves, they were more than on board with the idea and it didn’t take too much persuasion for their sponsors to be on board too. After all, with everyone working together and lifting each other up, it boosted their morale considerably that they wanted to give back everyone’s kindness. 

“Of course you have our support with getting the Champion Cup up and running! With or without our sponsors, we’re going to make it happen no matter what.” Raihan reassured, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. But it was - all of them were Gym Leaders not solely because of what it brought them financially, but because it was their passion, and their passion was going to follow them no matter where they went. 

“Thank you, Raihan. This was Leon’s idea and as much as I want to help him out, it’s hard to ignore the finances that will be involved-”

“Well, I’m glad his girlfriend is thinking about the logistics because Arceus knows he would just dive head first into a plan without looking back.” The Dragon Gym Leader teased. 

“G-Girlfriend?” Juliet sputtered.

“Yeesh, Sonia wasn’t kidding when she said you two were still dancing around the subject. You two saved each other, supported each other in the hospital, and you’re  _ still _ going to deny that you aren’t joined at the hip?”

“S-Sorry...It’s not like I’m used to caring and loving someone like this.”

“Well, embrace it because that goof has been head-over-heels for you all this time. Hey, since I’m doing you a solid, care to give me some insight on the things Mary likes?” Raihan asked innocently with a toothy grin. 

Juliet raised her eyebrow. “Why not just ask her yourself? Aren’t you a smooth talker?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked off to the side with a light blush. “I just want to be sure, you know?”

“Who’s the one dancing around now?” 

“Shut up-”

* * *

On top of getting Galar back into the shape, many also desired a celebration. And there were plenty of things to celebrate over. The battle against Eternatus would no doubt go down in history as one of the biggest turning points in Galarian history, with all the Dynamax research and legends of Zacien and Zamazenta to go with it. 

That’s why, on the same night as the Champion Cup finals, they would put together a special annual celebration to honor everyone who played a part in protecting the Galar region and ushering a new dawn of prosperity, hand in hand. 

Well, it sounded all fine and dandy on paper but there was a lot of work to do in actually rallying support to make it happen, not to mention, how much it would cost to pull it all off. There was a lot to think about, but there was no time to waste and despite Leon being stuck in the hospital for one more day, he made up for it by making as many phone calls as he could with the help of the Gym Leaders while Juliet went around the region to gauge interest in such an event. 

Vendors, performances, maybe even rides - it felt like she was putting together some sort of carnival. But, it was reassuring knowing that she didn’t have to worry too much about funding so she can focus on making sure there were no shortages of entertainment and fun. 

“Oh, don’t worry about entertainment, big sis! I’d be happy to put on some street performances with my Pokemon!” Courtney offered confidently.

“Thanks Courtney, but we’re going to need some more performers and entertainers if the whole region is going to be celebrating.” Juliet pouted, tapping her pen on her notepad impatiently. Maybe get more coordinators on board? Idols were pretty big, weren’t they? Heck, she could even ask Piers if he was on board with performing-

“Did I hear something about needing performers?” Rosa interjected, popping up from the bush, startling both Juliet and Courtney who were relaxing on a park bench. 

“Geez, Rosa, you scared me.”

“Hee hee, sorry! But, back on topic, I heard you’re trying to rally up interest for a big celebratory event for beating the Darkest Day, right? Well, I know just who to contact!”

“You do? Who?”

“You’ll see! I’ll give you a hint - they’re huuuuuuuuuuuuuge idols from the Unova region!”

“You’re going to invite idols here?! Is that really OK? I mean, wouldn’t we have to contact them through their talent agency and-” Juliet sputtered, waving her arms in protest at such a high-profile invitation. Rosa scoffed and shooed her hands. 

“Don’t sweat the details, Juliet! Leave it to me! Besides, Nate knows them well too! And you know what, I think May, Dawn, and Serena might be interested in doing some street performances too so I’ll ask them!” Before Juliet could even get another word in, Rosa was already skipping down the street to look for the aforementioned Pokemon Coordinators.

“W-Well, I guess I can cross off the performance component of this event since Rosa seems to have taken that role from me…” She was hardly complaining though. In the short period that she knew the Unovian trainer, she was quite the go-getter and was always eager to lend a hand. 

Then again, many of the trainers that came to the Galar region to answer her call for help were all caring and considerate. To this day, she still couldn’t believe how many people turned up at the Wild Area and no words could ever describe how grateful she was for their generosity and their trust in her. It felt like something straight out of a movie; where the good guys were in a pinch and at the last second, they were saved by others who believed in their cause.

It just goes to show, when push comes to shove, someone will always be there to grab your hand and pull you back up. 

Because kindness was universal, and you didn’t need a ‘good’ reason to offer it other than because you want to make the other person happy. 

“Hey, Juliet! Mind if I borrow your ear for a moment?” Blue requested, with Red following close behind him. Despite battling alongside them before, it was still hard to keep her composure around two of the greatest Pokemon trainers in the world. Leon especially nearly fainted when she told him they were in Galar, which didn’t help his impatience to get out of the hospital at all. Thinking about it made her smile and she hoped she would be around when Leon would get to meet the pair for the first time to see his reaction.

“Blue! And Red too! What can I help you gentlemen with?”

“Heh, we actually thought we could help you out instead. A little Pidgey told us that you were putting together a special celebration so, since we’re already here, why not lighten your load a little?”

“O-Oh, but you guys have already done so much-”

Red signed something to Blue, to which Blue translated with, “Red says that we don’t mind! I thought it could be fun to hold exhibition matches at the other stadiums throughout the region. After all, this region is massive and I’m sure a lot of people living here, who can’t go to Wyndon, would get to watch a Pokemon battle in their hometowns.”

“That sounds awesome! I’m sure the Gym Leaders will let you use their stadiums. Besides the two of you, does anyone else know about it?”

“We’ve pitched it to some of the other Champions and they couldn’t pass it up. But, I’ll have to double-check with them since they probably have to return to their respective regions for a bit. Red, Leaf, and I will be here though. We’ve been meaning to check Galar out for awhile anyway.” 

“Thank you, Red and Blue. Please let me know if you need any more help!” Juliet slowly and carefully signed a ‘thank you’ and ‘see you later’ to the both of them, making Red beam at her appreciatively before signing it back. 

* * *

“OK...So, since entertainment and tournaments have been covered by Rosa and Blue, I need to plan out decorations, confetti, and fireworks…” Juliet mulled to herself, eyes glued to her clipboard, not paying attention to where she was going before accidentally bumping into someone. “Oh, I’m sorry about that, Lillie!”

Lillie turned around and smiled gently. “That’s alright-Ah! Juliet! Just the person we wanted to see. How are you feeling?”

“I’m doing a lot better now, thank you! You said you need me for something?”

“Hey, Juliet! Good to see you’re finally up and at ‘em! This is a bit late but here are Soleil, Flora, and Felix’s Pokeballs!” Hau reached into his pocket and handed her the three Pokeballs. “Professor Kukui also told us to tell you that he’s handing them back to you for good.”

“Really? Won’t he need help with the baby?”

“Lei’s over a year old now so he’s becoming easier to manage that his own Pokemon are enough to watch over him.” Elio explained. “Here, he recorded something for you.”

After fishing out his phone, he handed the phone to Juliet, where a video with Kukui holding Lei in his arms started to play. _ “Alola, Juliet! I’m sorry we couldn’t be there to support you in person but based on how things turn out, I don’t think I have to worry. Thank you for letting us borrow some of your Pokemon to look after Lei here, but I think it’s only right that you get them back after all that you’ve been through. They’ve been missing you too! They weren’t the only ones who were touched by your speech. It’s trainers like you that make this world easier to live in by reminding us that we’re all in this together. Sometimes we get so caught up in our own lives that we forget that. When Lei here is a bit older, I hope you’ll give us a grand tour of Galar! I’ve been itchin’ to check the place out. Anyway, keep on doing your best and inspiring others, cousin! Lei, do you want to help me say ‘bye bye’?” _

Lei let out some incomprehensible babbling before reaching out to something, or someone, off camera. Likely Burnet. 

_ “Close enough. See you soon, Juliet!” _

Juliet had the biggest smile throughout the whole recording, moreso towards their son than what Kukui said. Not that she didn’t pay attention and wasn’t flattered by his words, but she hadn’t met or seen Lei until this point so she was distracted by the adorable baby. “Awww. Thank you for showing me that! Lei is so cute.”

“Isn’t he?! He definitely takes after Burnet, but she thinks he might take after Kukui when he’s older.” Selene giggled.

“Think he’ll pick up wrestling in that case?”

“I would love to see that!”

“Hey, everyone! Sorry to interrupt-” Lyra called over, running up to the group with Kris, Hilda, Hilbert, Cheren, and Bianca following close behind. It looked like Kris was holding something behind her back.

“Hey guys! On break?” Elio greeted.

“Something like that! We finally finished the  _ ‘thing’ _ we put together!” Kris beamed before walking over to Juliet. “Hiya, Juliet! We made something for you!”

Juliet looked at her sheepishly and opened her mouth, probably to say something along the lines of ‘oh, you didn’t have to’ or ‘sorry for the trouble’ but Bianca interrupted her train of thought.

“No ifs, ands, or buts! Please accept it!”

Juliet smiled wryly and chuckled. “Alright, alright.”

Kris’ smile widened as she revealed the streamers of origami Swannas from her back and held it out to her. “After hearing about how you collapsed and were in a nightmare, Lyra had the idea of making origami Swannas for you to help you recover faster. In Johto, not only do they symbolize hope, but there’s a legend where if you make 1000 of them, your wish will come true!”

“1000?! Oh boy, that must have taken a while. But, thank you all so much! That’s very kind of you especially since you all came from your respective regions to give us a hand with our own crisis…”

“We had our own fair share of struggles that went on in our regions so knowing how hard it was for us, we didn’t want anyone to have to suffer through the same thing alone.” Hilbert reassured. 

“Besides, we ended up meeting other trainers, and making new friends so we gained a lot in the end!” Hilda added cheerfully.

“So, now that you have 1000 Swannas, what are you going to wish for?” Gladion asked curiously.

Good question, but it was also one of those questions where when asked on the spot, suddenly Juliet couldn’t think of anything she wished or dreamed of. There was a lot of weight on one wish and there was this expectation that one would have to wish for something big to make it worthwhile.

“Hmmm…I’d probably wish for all of your hopes and dreams to come true-”

Bianca giggled and Cheren let out a short chuckle. “Seems like May and Brendan were right about that. But, it’s a generous and humble wish regardless.”

“Awwww, we’re flattered, Juliet! But, what about you? Do you have a dream?” Bianca asked.

“Me? Hmmm...To be honest, up until now, I’ve honestly been satisfied with just living through the same routine over and over because I was afraid of things taking me by surprise. But, speaking of which,” Juliet turned to Cheren. “You wanted to talk to me in person about the business card you gave me?”

“Indeed. But, perhaps now isn’t the best time since I hear you’re planning a big celebration?”

“Then, leave the rest to us! We’ll take care of whatever you need done!” Selene volunteered, swiping the clipboard out of Juliet’s hands and scurrying off with the others to assign tasks. It was almost endearing by how eager everyone was to help, but she was going to count her blessings.

“So? What do you think about becoming a teacher? Or, at least a Teacher Assistant to get you started? I know Principal Asuka in Alola personally and she’s looking for someone to fill in a role as a TA at her school.” Cheren offered.

Juliet bit her lip, considering she didn’t have much time to think about the offer when it was originally presented to her. She didn’t oppose the idea, but she wasn’t sure about it either. The bigger question was, “Why me?”

“Because you have the voice to lead and inspire others. Our world needs more people to guide aspiring trainers to greatness, and help them discover their untapped potential.”

“But, I haven’t gotten any formal training in education-”

“You don’t necessarily need a diploma depending on the kind of teacher you want to be. We’re talking Pokemon battles here - you don’t need to know geometry and algebra for Pokemon battles, now do you?” Cheren retorted. “Galar doesn’t have any trainer schools, and I think this region has a lot of potential towards giving trainers more experience and insight on Dynamax Battles, and even survival skills out in the Wild Area. You could be the start of that boom. But, you don’t have to decide right at this second and I imagine you’re probably feeling pressured by me dumping this on you all at once, but think about it. This could be a good path for you.”

Juliet stared at her feet, pondering on the offer more carefully before shooting the teacher a small grin. “I’m going to need more time to think about it, but I’m open to the opportunity. There’s just a lot I need to sort out.”

“I understand. Luckily the position won’t be filled that quickly since Asuka is looking for someone to be referred for the position so if you do decide to seize the opportunity, let me know.” Cheren handed her his business card that had contact information at the school he taught at, and his personal phone number.

“Thank you, Cheren. I’ll keep in touch if I have an answer or any questions.”

* * *

With the offer sitting in the back of her mind, the overwhelming support towards the celebratory efforts kept pouring in that she couldn’t handle it all on her own. By the time Leon was finally discharged from the hospital, they managed to organize a committee for the Champion Cup and the celebrations that would follow. But, for such a big and momentous event, they needed a good name for it. 

Something to encompass everyone’s hope and dreams; all of which would always shine through the dark like welcoming the dawn or the stars in the sky. 

That day would become known as ‘Twilight Day’. 

With everyone working together, the day finally arrived, and there was not a single person in the Galar region who wasn’t looking forward to it. 

But, before the celebrations of Twilight Day can truly kick off, the finale of the Champion Cup was finally underway…

* * *

Leon looked over himself in the mirror that was hung up in his locker. His eyes wandered over the various trinkets and memorabilia that he amassed over the years as Champion. Gifts and letters from fans, photographs of his youth back when he was just a Gym Challenger like many others - he went through this ritual every year to allow himself to reflect on any challenges he might have faced to get here.

Needless to say, so much has changed to himself, his friends, the region he called home...It was hard to encapsulate everything he was feeling into a single moment of self-reflection. 

But, change isn’t always bad. 

13 years of being Champion brought about opportunities and challenges he will never forget, but at some points, it felt like he was going through a routine he couldn’t break out of. Even though he hardly saw it coming and it took a moment to adjust to changes, he welcomed the storm that came his way. Because it ultimately led to the beautiful rainbow at the end of it all. 

And that rainbow, took the form of a stronger heart and deepened bonds. 

He smiled fondly at an old photo of him posed with Raihan, Sonia, and Nessa during their Gym Challenge and then softly regarding the photo that was Juliet’s most prized possession, which he had grown to treasure as well. 

He hoped to take another photo just like it, but for their present selves. 

“Well, mate. It’s just about time you head out.”

“Just give me another minute, Raiha-” Leon turned around, expecting to see the tall Dragon Gym Leader, but he wasn’t alone. All the Gym Leaders, including Sonia, were gathered around with gentle smiles on their faces. 

Leon blinked. “Oh! Hi. everyone. What are you all doing here?”

“Here to wish our Champion good luck, what else?” Nessa answered lightheartedly.

He suspected as much, but something seemed...different about them. Like, something was lifted from their shoulders. He noticed how they didn’t avert their gaze when he looked at them -  _ really _ looked at them in their eyes. They held their gaze, choosing to look at him for  _ who _ he was, rather than what he had. 

Leon always had the unpleasant feeling in his stomach that his fellow co-workers were intimidated by him. They spent years trying to win over the position he held, building up years of bitterness and envy over his strength. He...never really knew how to address it, not wanting to give them the impressions that he was looking down at them through pity. But, it seemed that they recognized what he might have been feeling on their own terms. During what transpired, it was the first time Leon admitted to himself that he didn’t rely on them as he should have. He didn’t have to face the horrors of Eternatus on his own. He wasn’t above everyone else, but that must have been what it looked liked. 

When he finally turned to them for help in organizing the rest of the Champion Cup and the celebrations for Twilight Day, perhaps they saw a change in him. A change that made him more open to relying on others and appreciating what everyone had to offer. He wasn’t an untouchable Champion - he was just like them. Fellow Pokemon trainers who loved battling at the bottom of their hearts and weren’t just looking to win. 

“We also wanted to thank you for organizing all of this and letting us help you. If we knew how hard Rose was pressuring you and making you work, we would have approached you much sooner. Perhaps you wouldn’t haven’t gotten injured or...controlled if we had intervened.” Kabu told him, remorse evident in his voice. 

“Kabu...Hey, give yourselves some credit too! WE were able to make the finale happen. And...it’s also my fault for letting my pride get in the way of reaching out for help in a situation that even I knew deep down, was too big of a task to accomplish on my own. Thank you, all of you, for standing strong beside me.” Leon pumped his fist into the air. “From now on, we won’t stand idle to any problems our region might face in the future!”

“...Hmph. I’m fully capable of working alone, thank you very much.” Bede grumbled under his breath. Opal lightly bonked him on the head with the handle of her umbrella. Some of the Gym Leaders turned to the new addition to their family with sheepish grins as he took the scolding that was being delivered by Opal.

“Hey squirt, we can’t welcome you into the Galar League family with that kind of attitude.” Gordie added with a chuckle. Bede huffed and turned away with crossed arms. 

Opal sighed exasperatedly. “I’m sorry, Leon. I promise to continue training Bede so he develops more...decorum, for cooperation.”

“Well, that does sound like a problem. Do you need any assistance, Opal?” Melony offered with a foreboding smile that sent a cold chill down Bede’s spine. The newly appointed Fairy Gym Leader cleared his throat and straightened his posture.

“T-That won’t be necessary. I promise to be on my best behaviour under Opal’s tutelage.”

“Wow, he changed his tune pretty quickly.” Piers smirked. 

“Can you blame him though? Melony’s coaching is super strict, even for me…” Bea whispered. 

“What was that, Bea, sweetie?” Melony asked innocently. 

“N-Nothing!”

“Come on, everyone. Aren’t you forgetting where we are?” Sonia giggled. Everyone burst out into laughter from their silliness and camaraderie, which sent a pleasant tingle through Leon’s heart. 

He didn’t have any more regrets weighing down his heart. 

He would see through to the finals until the very end. 

The cheers of his name grew louder and louder and he knew he couldn’t keep them waiting any longer. 

After straightening his snap back and getting a rather rough slap on the back from Raihan, he walked through the double doors leading out into the stadium with renewed confidence burning in his chest. The others watched him walk down the dim hallway leading out into the stadium, each of them wishing him the best of luck under their breaths. 

Leon pulled out Juliet’s heart scale, his lucky charm, and gave it a chaste kiss before holding it close to his chest. 

When Leon felt the astroturf beneath his feet, the crowd roared in excitement. 

“Annnd, the man of the hour has finally arrived!” Phil announced. 

“Time for the finals of the Champion Cup to begin!” Vanquil added enthusiastically. But, before all of that, Leon held his hand up, letting the MCs know that he had some words that he wanted to say, which also quieted the audience. 

“First of all, I want to thank everyone for coming out today!” Leon stared directly at one of the Rotom drones and winked. “And to everyone watching at home, thank you for tuning in! This is the biggest turn out we’ve ever seen that we have some very special guests in the stands! It’s an honor to have the other Champions from the other regions here today to witness this finale!”

The audience erupted in gasps and squeals as the Rotom drone panned over to the VIP stands where the Champions were all seated. 

“None of this wouldn’t have been possible without the cooperation of everyone in Galar and beyond.” He turned to Gloria and spotted his brother standing with his mom in the stands. “I’d like to extend special thanks to the trainer standing before me, Gloria, and my brother, Hop, for rising up as heroes of our beloved region, and fighting alongside Zacien and Zamazenta to capture Eternatus so that we could see another day!”

Both Gloria and Hop blushed bashfully, still not used to being regarded so highly by everyone even if it was well-deserved. Hop moreso, due to being second-best in many aspects. To be called a hero on the same level as Gloria made him swell with pride. His mother looked at him proudly and pulled him into her arms for a tight hug, making him laugh joyfully. 

“There’s someone else I’d like to thank...A Pokemon trainer who inspired and brought trainers from all over the world together to protect our cities, towns, and Wild Area from rampaging Dynamaxed Pokemon. A trainer who united the world through the values we share as humans with our Pokemon companions by our side - thank you, Juliet.” Leon grinned knowingly. He could already picture Juliet covering her face from the impending cameras. 

Phil, Mary, Tessu, and Vanquil turned their heads to Juliet, who in fact, did have both of her hands covering her face. Unfortunately for her, the Rotom drones decided to record her anyway, regardless of how much she wanted to shy away. The positive attention was just so overwhelming. But, she promised herself she was going to embrace gratitude more readily. Slowly pulling her hands away from her face, she looked at the Rotom drones and smiled toothily as she leaned into the mic.

“Let’s give a big round of applause to all of us! This is our victory!”

The following applause was deafening but the energy in the stadium was full of life. When the clapping slowly died down, Leon returned his fiery gaze at Gloria. 

“Now, with everyone on the edge of their seats and the anticipation running in our veins, I couldn’t have dreamed of a better challenger to help increase my winning streak! Now that I’ve seen just what kind of strength you possess as the greatest of challenges, crushing you into the dirt will show everyone just how strong their Champion truly is!” The wind gradually picked up, blowing through his thick cape that made him stand as the imposing trainer he was when things turned serious. 

“Come on, Gloria! Let’s make this a final match that’ll go down in Galar’s history! No! A match that’ll change Galar forever!” He then struck his iconic pose. 

“We’re gonna have an absolutely Champion time!”

* * *

“Can you believe it folks?! For the first time in years, Leon, the unbeatable Champion, is down to his last Pokemon!” Phil gawked. 

“But, don’t count him out just yet! Gloria’s final Pokemon has been out for awhile so Leon has the upper hand in terms of stamina!” Juliet added. 

“Will Inteleon be able to stand up against Leon’s Charizard?!” Tessu announced dramatically. 

Gloria gritted her teeth and wiped away the sweat from her forehead. The pressure was starting to get to her that she could barely hear the audience’s cheers amongst the ringing in her ears. The moment she started to think about this being the end, her Inteleon looked back at her with resolve and valor shining in his eyes. 

This wasn’t the end.

No, she was just getting started!

She shook off the hesitation and uneasiness, replacing them with fortitude and perseverance with a confident grin. 

Leon smirked. He had been waiting for a moment like this for a long time! “It’s now or never, Gloria! I’m going to show you how strong we can really be!”

The Champion returned Charizard back into his Pokeball and promptly Dynamaxed his Pokemon before fearlessly tossing it behind him and watching his Charizard grow in size into his grand Gigantamax form. Leon stood proudly in front of his ace with his arms crossed over his chest. 

“Well, Gloria?”

Gloria scoffed through his taunts and Dynamaxed her Inteleon as well and though he didn’t have a Gigantamax form, he easily stood taller than Leon’s Charizard. 

But that was hardly going to deter Leon or Charizard. 

“Charizard, use Max Overgrowth!”

“And right off the bat, Leon is going for the super-effective grass-type Max move!” Vanquil commented. 

“The fact that it’s linked to Charizard’s Solar Beam means that this could be the final hit!” Mary chimed in. 

“Freeze it with Max Hailstorm!” Gloria commanded. Leon raised an eyebrow, unsure about her choice of counterattack against a fire-type on top of the hail inevitably affecting her Inteleon as well. Hm. Perhaps she was taking a leaf out of Raihan’s book by optimizing weather effects even if it called for a bit of sacrifice. 

The hailstorm negated the effects of Max Overgrowth by freezing the mushrooms in their place, but that didn’t mean Inteleon came out unscathed. Hail began to fall from the sky, making everyone in the stadium shiver and huddle close to each other until the weather came to pass. 

The cold didn’t exactly bother Charizard, but the hail pelting against his skin was nothing short of uncomfortable and distracting. 

G-Max Wildfire wasn’t going to break through the hail, nor was it going to do much damage against Inteleon, but it’s continuous infliction of fire was what made the move so  _ deadly.  _

There was no way for Inteleon to avoid those subsequent hits. 

“It’s a Champion time to turn up the heat. Use G-Max Wildfire!”

Charizard unleashed a devastating burst of fire from his wings, which swooped right towards Inteleon and landed directly on target, causing the audience to protect themselves from the onslaught of heat that came from the flames. 

It seemed like Leon had the battle in the bag, but Gloria was putting all of her cards towards a gamble that he fell right into. 

_ Hang in there, Inteleon…! Just a little more…! _

“Inteleon is getting absolutely slammed by the effects of G-Max Wildfire and he doesn’t look like he can go anywhere!” 

“What is challenger Gloria playing at?!”

Leon braced himself. This was too easy. Gloria wasn’t just going to let Inteleon take hits until he would inevitably faint. She was playing some sort of gamble - a risky game that he unfortunately couldn’t read into. 

It was time to put an end to the match.

“Charizard, use Max-”

“NOW INTELEON!” Gloria shouted. Inteleon pushed through the fiery assault by pulling out a berry and quickly eating it, letting its effects take control. Juliet caught a glimpse of the berry before it was eaten, jumped out of her seat, and gasped loudly into the mic.

“That’s…! Inteleon consumed a Custap berry!”

She didn’t get a chance to elaborate its game-changing effects any further as Gloria gave Inteleon the final command that ultimately turned the tides of the match.

“Inteleon, use Max Geyser!!” 

Gloria didn’t give Leon a chance to react as her commands came so quickly and the destructive stream of water landed critically on Leon’s Charizard. Charizard’s roar pierced through the air, enough to shake through everyone’s core until he shrunk down back to size and fainted, leaving everyone in the stadium speechless. 

...

Leon...had lost. 

Phil somehow was able to pull himself out of his shock while Raid Prism just stared at the scene with their jaws dropped. “I can hardly believe it either, folks! We just witnessed the rise of a brand new Champion!! Give it up for Galar’s new Champion, Gloria!!”

Gloria jumped up and down as her Inteleon shrunk to normal size and ran over to his trainer to hug her tightly. She dropped to her knees and wept happily against her Pokemon’s shoulder. Leon watched with his lip pressed tightly together and he tipped his hat down to hide his face.

His time as Champion...was over. 

He couldn’t process exactly what he was feeling at that moment. He was still reeling from how quickly the tables had turned against him. Disappointment? Shame? Those emotions were probably mixed in there somewhere. But...what happened, happened. Gloria had fairly outsmarted him by distracting him with a defensive strategy and then going in for the final strike. How fitting for a Pokemon like Inteleon as well, rather than going for a more direct approach that many challengers used against him. 

He was always so guarded, and played his cards carefully - to have his title swiped right from his head was almost ironic. 

This was his first taste of defeat in a while, but it wasn’t in his character to be a poor sport.

Leon's mouth broke out into a toothy grin and he launched his snap back off of his head and raised his fist up at the audience.

“My time as Champion is over...But what a Champion time it has been!!” He cheered. The crowd went absolutely crazy and cheered harder than they ever had before as a result of the match. As fireworks shot through the sky and sparkling confetti rained down over the stadium, Leon went over to his ace and hugged him tightly. Charizard whimpered sadly, silently apologizing to his trainer for being defeated, but he wasn’t mad at all. 

“Charizard...You were amazing! Thank you for fighting until the end...We...We may not be Champions anymore, but you’ll always be a Champion Pokemon in my heart.”

Charizard growled affectionately, weakly returning his trainer’s hug before being returned to his Pokeball to get a well-deserved rest. Gloria did the same with her Inteleon before walking towards the very centre of the stadium to stand before Leon. 

Without his billowing cape and his crown snapback on his hat, Leon felt...so much lighter. He shot a fond glance to his Charizard’s Pokeball before lifting his head back up to the new Champion. 

“Congratulations, Gloria! You’ve beat even the unbeatable Champion - making you the new Champion of the region. You’ve become a first-rate Trainer, all right. I offer you my heartfelt congratulations!"

Gloria’s eyes lit up and she beamed gratefully at the former Champion. “Thank you very much, Leon!”

Leon beamed back and put a firm hand on her shoulder. "And now that you’ve grown so strong, perhaps it’s time I started looking ahead myself. It’s time we adults started working on improving the here and now, for the sake of all that’s to come! And you, Gloria! What you ought to do now is believe in yourself and your partner Pokémon, and keep on blasting ahead! In order to create that bright future we all hope to see!"

Leon picked up his discarded cape and wrapped it around Gloria’s shoulder. He gently grabbed her wrist and tossed it high into the air, proudly showing off Galar’s new Champion and new legend. “People of Galar! "Here you have it! A new legend born right before your eyes! Your Champion, Gloria! Bet you can’t wait to see what kind of future a kid with this kind of strength might bring about! I sure can’t! Let’s watch and see what she can do!"

Another flurry of confetti shot through the stadium and the sky continued to be blanketed by endless fireworks, stirring the celebratory atmosphere with hope and wonderment of the future of Galar with a new Champion at the helm. 

“And that concludes this year’s Champion Cup! This has been an incredible year of twists and excitement that will no doubt be remembered as the best Champion Cup in history!” Phil bellowed lively. 

“But, the fun isn’t over yet! Everyone from all over Galar, please join us in celebrating this momentous occasion that will be known as Twilight Day from this point forward!” Juliet announced eagerly, before quickly leaving her post to check on preparations. 

* * *

“...Do I have to wear this?” Gloria asked hesitantly, somewhat struggling to move fluidly with the heavy cape draped over her shoulders and how it dragged along the ground. It was a tad too big for her, not to mention it felt too warm for comfort. 

Leon laughed. “You don’t have to, but you’ll need to wear something to promote those sponsors.”

“...Does that mean you’re going to be the new Chairman of the Pokemon League?”

Huh, that’s right. Chairman Rose wasn’t just in charge of Macro Cosmos; he was also in charge of the Pokemon League as well. Both of which meant a lot to him and there was no denying the years he spent making it grow as big as it did. Leon didn’t want to deal with Macro Cosmos, but thinking about it now, he wasn’t opposed to helping out the Pokemon League in a way. That was  _ technically _ part of the job as Champion, except in this case it meant he’d take on a more administrative role, which didn’t sound as appealing but he wasn’t going to presume things without trying. “I’m not the one calling the shots, but I’m sure the Pokemon League will need my help either way. Marcos Cosmos on the other hand, is a massive company and I’m sure they’ll find someone suitable to take over the role. Just thought I’d clue you in from a former Champion, to you, Champ.”

“Thank you, Leon! I hope you’ll help me with other Champion related activities since there’s more to the job than just battling, right?”

“That’s right. And, don’t worry. I’ll make sure they don’t give you too much work. You’re still young, and I’m sure there’s plenty of things you’d like to do still. There’s going to be a crowd waiting for you outside, but try to have some fun tonight!” He playfully ruffled her bangs before walking off to the male change room to switch into something more comfortable. And, maybe he should take a shower while he was at it. 

Yeah, that sounded nice. 

But, when he removed his clothes, stepped into the shower, and turned on the cold water to wash the sweat off from his tan skin, he felt a different kind of wetness stream down his face.

And he knew it was different because in contrast to the cold water running down his back, the wetness falling from his face was hot. 

He was...He was crying.

...

Defeated, huh?

The word made him feel strange. Cold. Hollow, even. He grew up molding the identity of being undefeated, of always being on top. That's who he was. Or, at least that’s who he was supposed to be. Now that a part of his identity was gone, it rendered him speechless and a wave of confusion washed over him as the next thought crossed his mind.

If he wasn’t a Champion, what was he now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how accurate Gloria's strategy was in actually competitive play but the idea was that a Custap berry allows the Pokemon to act before the opponent in a pinch and since her Inteleon has the ability 'Torrent', which ups the power of water-type moves in a pinch, I thought it served as a good ultimate weapon of sorts that banked on that low HP set up and stacked! I think it fits for a Pokemon like Inteleon too since by nature it's sneaky and cunning, just like a sniper, so it's expected to have some tricks up its sleeves. 
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading this chapter and please leave a kudos and or a comment if you'd like!


	32. Once a Champion, Always a Champion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things can only go up from here.

**Chapter 24 - Once a Champion, Always a Champion**

****

* * *

“Good evening, everyone, all across the Galar region! Thank you for gathering in your respective hometowns to celebrate the first ever Twilight Day! A couple of weeks ago, our region suffered a great ordeal that plunged it into darkness. But, there was hope. Hope in the form of two young heroes and two Legendary Pokemon.” Juliet beckoned Hop and Gloria onto the make-shift stage, who joined her with honoured smiles on their faces. The jumbotrons that were installed throughout the region for this event displayed the statues of the aforementioned Pokemon that resided in Stow-on-Side. Her eyes skimmed over the crowd in search for Leon, who promised to watch her speech. 

But, he was nowhere to be seen. Odd. She made a mental note to shoot him a quick text afterwards. 

“Gloria, Galar’s new Champion, along with the runner up of the Champion Cup, Hop - these two heroes harnessed the power of the guardians of Galar, Zacien and Zamazenta, to put an end to Eternatus’ chaos, bringing light to Galar once more!” The children who were gathered around the stage looked up to them in awe, making Juliet feel a bit embarrassed by how dramatic her script and delivery ended up being. 

“And so, this victory calls for a grand celebration as a way to honor everyone who played a role in protecting Galar, and everyone who helped restore it back to its original beauty! At the end of the day, we’re all heroes in our own right, and that is worth celebrating for! Now, without further ado, let’s get this party started!” Juliet thrusted a fist into the air, causing streamers to shoot out into the audience as cheers and laughter filled the air. 

As she walked off stage and reached down to the walkie-talking strapped to her pants to check up on the others who were stationed in other cities of the region to oversee the celebrations taking place, Raihan suddenly ran up to her, clearly out of breath. 

“Raihan? What’s up?”

“Ha...Haa...Hey, have you seen Leon around?”

“You haven’t seen him either? I was actually looking for him in the crowd but I couldn’t find him.”

“Damnit. He isn't answering calls or texts either. This isn’t like him.” Raihan clicked his tongue in annoyance despite the worry building up in his chest. “Oh, but, you’re probably busy running this whole thing so leave finding him to me. I’ll get some of the others to help me if I can’t find him.”

“OK, but text me when you find him! I’m starting to get worried now too.”

“Will do. Later!” Raihan sprinted off, weaving himself through the crowd, frantically looking for the former Champion. He wasn’t hard to pick from the crowd since no one had the wild, lilac hair that he had, nor the crown snapback that sat on his head at all times. 

Then again, he wore that snapback to complete his Champion look. 

But now, he wasn’t Galar’s Unbeatable Champion anymore. 

And that’s when Raihan slowly realized. 

No matter how much you reassure yourself that it’s OK to lose, it was impossible to not feel some sort of bitterness or disappointment. To finally have his incredible streak broken, a streak he held for 13 years...Raihan could only imagine how much the insurmountable weight of his defeat was crushing his spirits. So, when his feet led him to the locker room of Wyndon Stadium, he saw a side of Leon he had never seen before. The Dragon Gym Leader was so used to seeing a confident smile plastered on Leon’s face every time he saw him, on top of how...noble he always carried himself. 

Like a true King. 

Leon now...Raihan could barely recognize him. Leon was hunched over, leaning on his propped elbows that rested on his knees, with his hair still damp despite the towel that hung around his neck. He couldn’t tell if the water dripping onto the ground came from his wet hair, or if it came from Leon’s tears. He didn’t even acknowledge Raihan’s presence when he entered the locker room. 

Once a King who sat proudly on his throne, now slumped over as if his whole kingdom had been conquered. 

He was lost in thought, and he couldn’t find a way out. 

“Leon. Hey, can you hear me, mate?” Raihan called. 

No response. 

Raihan sighed, opting to sit beside his best friend before roughly slinging an arm around his shoulder, making Leon grunt in surprise. 

“Oh...Hey, Raihan…”

“Hey. You alright?” It was a dumb question to ask, but it was better than making a snide remark in an attempt to lighten the mood. Raihan wasn’t one to trivialize other people’s feelings. After all, he was in a conflicting state of mind as well. 

Leon, his biggest rival, the person he wanted to beat the most out of everyone in the world, defeated by a kid. A strong kid, don’t get him wrong, but a kid regardless. Gloria had something that he didn’t. Whatever it was, he didn’t know. But...it was frustrating. So frustrating that someone could...accomplish what he had been trying to do for years, on her first try. 

In a way, Raihan empathized with what Leon was probably feeling. 

“...If I said yes, you’d probably see right through my act.” Leon grumbled. 

“You got that right. Go ahead, let it out whether it’s through crying or talking - I’ve got you.”

“I just…” Leon sighed shakily. “I spent so many years developing my image as Champion that...it was practically a part of me. Now that it’s gone, I…”

“...You really think everything you’ve built is going to disappear just like that?” Raihan replied bluntly. 

“Huh…?”

“Think about the legacy you’ve left behind, the fans who looked up to you - just because there’s a new Champion in line, you’ll always be remembered as one of Galar’s greatest Champions. As long as someone remembers that, is that identity really gone?”

Leon looked down at his feet, trying to let Raihan’s words sink in him so he could somehow understand what he was implying through his doubt. 

“This year was Piers’ last year of being a Gym Leader, before passing the baton to his little sister, so he can focus on his music. Are you ever going to forget Piers as a Gym Leader?”

“Of course not! Even if you couldn’t Dynamax Pokemon in his Gym, he’s incredible at battling.”

“Right? And let’s take you, me, Sonia, and Nessa for example. The four of us used to be Gym Challengers, just like Hop, Gloria, and everyone else who challenged us throughout the years. Even though it’s been over a decade since we wore those uniforms, our time as Gym Challengers are always going to be with us because they’re the reason we got this far.” Raihan patted his best friend’s back comfortingly. “As you might already know, I’m a bit of a history nut, but that’s exactly why it’s so important. People have left behind traces of the greatness that had been accomplished in their time, and it’s up to us to better those ideals so we never forget where we came from. What I’m trying to say is, we don’t lose the titles or accomplishments we once had. If you’re still feeling lost, that’s OK. We’ll all be walking side by side with you as we discover our own futures.”

Leon didn’t say anything, but when he wrapped his own arm around his shoulder, Raihan knew that he was slowly coming to terms with everything he said. Finally letting out a heavy sigh, the former Champion lifted up his head.

“...Thanks, Raihan. I really needed to hear that. I’m not completely over it but-”

“It’s fine, mate. These things take time, but just don’t sulk for too long. I’m still going to kick your arse one of these days.”

Leon snorted and playfully shoved his shoulder into his best friend’s side. “Can’t have that, can we?”

“Heh, you got that right. Now, dry your hair off and try to have some fun tonight. There’s still plenty to celebrate over! You also have a lady expecting an apology from you for missing out on her speech.”

Leon slapped his forehead in realization. “Crap, I completely forgot!”

“It’s fine, mate. She seems worried about you. You could always make it up to her in other ways.” Raihan snickered.

“Like how?”

The Dragon Gym Leader’s smile turned smug and he proceeded to make kissy noises, making Leon shove him off the bench.

* * *

“Ha…” Juliet heaved, clumsily flopping down on a bench, in a quieter part of Wyndon away from the main celebrations. She had spent the last hour or so flying around Wyndon to check on everyone, getting status reports, stocking up on supplies - she knew it was going to be a massive undertaking overseeing everything but she had her work cut out for her.

Now every time someone was coming in from the walkie-talkie, she wouldn’t even try to hide the groan she’d let out. 

Thankfully it was quiet, for now. 

That was until two young boys came running up to her. A boy with short brown hair and another boy with short blond hair, both around the same age and wearing exact copies of Leon’s Champion shirt. She immediately sat up properly on the bench instead of just lying down across it like a total slob. She patted her hair down and cleared her throat. “Hello! Are you two looking for your parents?”

“Hi! You’re Miss Juliet, right?” The brunette asked. 

“That’s me! But, you don’t need to call me miss.”

“OK! Our parents are nearby so we’re not lost or anything. We...actually wanted to ask you something, if that’s OK?”

“Sure! What’s up?”

“We were hoping we could see Leon. He and...Mr. Rose gave our family tickets to see his match and we want to thank him in person!”

“That’s kind of you! Give me a second to give him a call, ‘kay?” It almost startled her by how quickly Leon answered her call, but it made her all the more relieved knowing that he was OK enough to answer. 

_ “Hello? J?” _

“Hey, Leon! How are you feeling?”

_ “I’m doing better now, thanks. Raihan said some stuff to help get my butt back into gear. Anyway, what’s up?” _

“I’m glad to hear that! I’m with two boys who want to meet up to thank you for the tickets to your match today. Their names are…” Juliet held her hand over the receiver and looked to the two boys, who promptly answered with ‘John’ and ‘Tommy’.

“John and Tommy, you know them?”

_ “Hehe, sure do. They were the kids I hung out with at the hospital a few months ago. Where are you?” _

“I’m by the walkway that overlooks the river running through the city.”

_ “That long path that connects to the bridges that lead up the hotel and stadium?” _

“Ding, ding, ding! You got it. I’m by the one closer to the stadium.”

_ “Alright, I’ll be there soon.” _

“Cool. See you in a bit!” After hanging up the phone, she patted the empty space beside her on the bench to offer the kids a seat while they waited. “He’s on his way! How are you two enjoying the festivities?”

“We’re having so much fun! We just watched a battle between the Champion of Unova and a trainer named Blue! He was crazy strong!” Tommy exclaimed, swinging his legs back and forth in excitement from just the mere mention of it. 

“And did you see the trainer with a Charizard like Leon’s?! He doesn’t say anything and yet his Pokemon knows exactly what he wants them to do!” John added in disbelief. 

“Sounds like you two really enjoy watching battles! Are you going to become Pokemon Trainers when you grow up?” Juliet asked with a knowing smile. 

“You bet! Even if Leon isn’t Champion anymore, he’ll always be my hero and someone I want to have a battle with someday!” John confessed. 

Awwww, what a bunch of cute kids.They had hopeful dreams, dreams that many other young aspiring trainers shared and she couldn’t wait to see them grow up to become incredible Pokemon trainers. “I’m sure Leon will be really excited and happy to hear that!”

“Y-You really think so?”

“Of course! Nothing gets Leon more fired up than a Pokemon battle.”

“You got that right.” Leon interrupted with a chuckle. John and Tommy jumped off of the bench and eagerly ran up to the former Champion to hug him. He acknowledged the boys warmly and did his best to hug them back despite the stuffed Rookiedee and Dreepy plushies he held under his arms. 

“Long time no see, you two! How’ve you been?”

“We’ve been great! Ever since we’ve been discharged from the hospital, every day has been so much fun!” Tommy answered with a toothy grin. 

“I’m happy to hear that! Hey, I got you both a little something.” Leon handed the Rookiedee plushie to John while he handed the Dreepy plushie to Tommy. They squealed and laughed gleefully at the presents and gave their respective plushies a big squeeze before hugging the former Champion once more. 

“Thank you, Leon! Thank you for giving us tickets to see your match!” The boys thanked graciously in unison. Their shared appreciation for him brought a gentle smile to his face, and he bent down to properly give them a hug. 

Knowing that he was still looked up to by them, lifted his spirits up considerably. 

“You’re very welcome, John, Tommy. Thanks for coming out today and showing your support. It means a lot to me.”

“You’re welcome! You’ll always be the greatest Champion of Galar to us! You’ll still keep battling, right?”

“Definitely. This isn’t the last you’ll see of me, that’s for sure-”

“Tommy! John! Didn’t you two want to watch more Pokemon battles?” Their parents shouted in the distance. 

“We’ll be right there!!” Tommy shouted back. “We better take off but, I hope we’ll see you again soon, Leon!” Then, the brunette made a mad dash down the walkway towards their parents.

“Last one there has to buy the loser a Soda Pop!”

“Hey! No fair! You had a head start!” John called after him, holding the Rookiedee above his head as he ran. 

For a moment, it felt like Leon was watching a glimpse from the past, where he was already running ahead of Raihan or Sonia during their Gym Challenge. His head was always up in the clouds, his heart full of ambition towards his goal of being the strongest trainer in the world. He told himself that he had to keep running so dreams wouldn’t get further away, away from his reach. But, in doing that, there were probably a lot of moments during his journey that he took for granted. If there was one lesson he hoped John and Tommy could learn when they became trainers, it would be to enjoy each day to their fullest. 

He was going to make sure that happened for them, and for every aspiring trainer in the generations to come. 

“Sooooo…” Juliet drawed out, eyeing him suspiciously before pouting. “No plushie for me?”

He jolted out of his moment of reminisce and waved his hands defensively. “I-I can go back and win you one!”

Juliet let out a short burst of laughter. “I’m just messing with you, Lee. I’m glad you’re OK. I was getting worried when you didn’t show up to watch my dramatic speech and Raihan couldn’t find you.”

“I’m sorry about that. I...I had a bit of a breakdown. But...I’m going to be alright.” Leon admitted quietly. 

Juliet nodded in understanding and gently reached out for his hand. “I don’t doubt that but it’s OK if your heart’s not into the celebratory spirit right now. It’s not much but, why don’t we walk around together? Check out the stalls, get something to eat - you know, ease yourself into the spirit?”

When his fingers instinctively weaved through hers, that was his answer. Just to be sure, she looked up to his golden eyes, a bit dull and lacking in fiery passion than usual, but that was to be expected. Still, she saw flickers of a flame and it was only a matter a time before that would spark into something greater. And if she could help it, she would. She squeezed his hand and shot her a reassuring grin before gently tugging him along towards the main streets that were bustling with activity and cheer. 

Under normal circumstances, she would have been more mindful of holding his hand so openly, knowing how the public would react to such affairs, but everyone was so occupied in eating food and laughing together that they paid no mind to them. And even if there were paparazzi lurking in the shadows, sneakily taking pics of their time together, well, she wasn’t going to let it dour their moment. This was more for Leon than it was for her, and she vowed to protect him as he slowly came to terms with his loss. 

First on the list of making Leon smile again, was to get something to eat, and he deserved it for fighting so hard for all these years. 

“So, any food you’re craving to eat? Corn dogs? BBQ? Ah, can’t say if the BBQ will be as good as your mom’s.”

That got a chuckle out of a Leon. “How’d you know about that?”

“I overheard Hop raving about it the other day when I told him the kinds of food that were gonna be here today. I’d love to try her cooking some day.” Juliet giggled cheerfully.

“I’m sure you’d love it. Well, why don’t we try to get a bit of everything?” He suggested sheepishly. 

“I like the way you think! Despite how I look, I can eat a lot!” Juliet laughed, pulling him along to the various food stalls that were smoking with various street foods from across the world so there was no shortage of what to eat. Though, they underestimated their eagerness as their arms piled high with food and they struggled to find an empty table to unveil their food haul at. 

“Juliet! Leon! Over here!” Milo called over with a grin. The duo looked over to see the farmer with the other Gym Leaders, seated at what looked to be two picnic-style tables pushed together to accommodate their large group. There was still plenty of room for them and their feast. 

“Thanks, Milo! We got a little carried away.” Juliet huffed, carefully spreading out the food across the picnic table before plopping down on an empty side next to Melony, and Leon taking Juliet’s other side. 

“Juliet! You’ve put together such a wonderful festival for all of us! This is certainly something to look forward to every year.” Melony complimented. 

Juliet blushed and rubbed the back of her neck. “Thanks! I had plenty of help though! I just really wanted to do something to bring everyone’s spirits back up, but to also thank them for putting their faith in us-”

“Hey, hey, hey, stop right there! If you’re going to go on a sentimental trip, at least make it a toast!” Gordie laughed, pouring her and Leon glasses of champagne and holding his glass up, prompting the others to do the same.

“Hey! Don’t do a toast without us!” Vanquil protested jokingly, joining the gathering with Tessu and Mary following close behind him. 

“Here, Mary! Toast for the spirit but I’ll drink your share after.” Tessu giggled, handing the brunette her glass, to which she accepted and thanked the other gently before lifting up the glass to the air. 

Juliet got up from her seat and cleared her throat. Her throat was already a bit hoarse and sore from giving out orders and her speech from earlier, so she was going to keep it short and sweet. She regarded everyone around the table with a warm smile. “It’s been an absolute pleasure working with you all over this past year and I’m so grateful that we can all come together to celebrate everything we accomplished, not just in terms of the Gym Challenge and Champion Cup, but uniting together to protect what’s important and dear to us. We’ve all come a long way, as both trainers, but as people, and I can only hope we’ll continue to grow stronger together from here on out! Cheers!”

“Cheers!!” Everyone announced, clinking their glasses together before taking a sip of their champagne and dissolving back into their previous conversations. Juliet tried to hide her scrunched up face from just a mere sip of the champagne, but it didn’t go unnoticed by Leon.

“You don’t have to force yourself.” Leon chuckled. 

“I just wanted to be a good sport, but even so, bleh.”

Leon took her champagne glass and swapped it with a glass of sparkling apple juice instead. “Here, this might appeal to your taste buds more.”

“Thanks.” Juliet took careful sips of the juice before reaching for the small tray of takoyaki from their horde of food. “I did so much talking today that I’m starving! Have you tried these before? They’re probably my favourite food and they’re popular street food in Johto!”

“I haven’t, but they look really good-” But before Juliet could warn Leon how hot they were fresh, he plopped one in his mouth and nearly doubled over by how searing hot it was in his mouth. “H-Hot!”

“I was going to warn you!” Juliet bellowed in laughter, watching him struggle to cool the food in his mouth before deeming it safe enough to chew and swallow. Besides his burned tongue, it had an unique flavour that had him reaching for more, albeit being more mindful this time and cooling it with his breath. “The verdict?”

“Delicious, but deadly if you aren’t careful.” 

“Haha! Because they’re my favourite, I even forget to let them cool a little because I get too eager.” She joked, before popping one in her mouth and savouring her favourite food. It really had been too long since she had them and it could hardly compare to the ones she made at home. 

After eating their fill, they decided to walk off their full stomachs by walking through the stalls that were lined up with various carnival games like the usual test of strength, balloon popping, ring toss, and other fun activities where prizes were sought after. Suddenly, the sound of a kid crying caught their attention and Juliet turned in the direction of the cry to see a little girl and her mother, who looked besides herself, standing in front of an archery range. Of course, she couldn’t help herself in that moment due to her love for archery, but she was also motivated to help out the little girl who was likely trying to get her mom to win a prize for her. 

“Hey there! Is there a prize that you’d like?” Juliet asked, crouching down to the girl’s level. 

She couldn’t utter a word through her sobs and merely pointed at the Cubchoo plushie hanging by a rack with other plushies of Pokemon. Her mother opened her mouth to protest but Juliet had already given the guy in charge of the attraction the money required to play and picked up the small bow, getting a feel for it. “Hmm, this is a lot smaller than what I’m used to so I better not overshoot my shot.”

“Can’t believe I get a front row seat to see a hunter in action.” Leon said playfully. 

Juliet scoffed. “I don’t know about that but I like to pretend that I’m Link.” She gave the bow string a few test tugs to get a sense of its elasticity and turned to the guy in charge of the booth. “So, how many bullseyes do I need to get a prize?”

“You have five tries, but you only need two bullseyes to get one of those plushies.”

“Then, how about I get three plushies if I hit all five bullseyes?” She smirked. Despite it being awhile since she last practiced, this felt infinitely easier than when she practiced archery at the recreation center. Not to mention the targets weren’t nearly as far away either. 

“Deal. Haven’t seen anyone land even three in a row yet-” 

Not even five seconds have passed did she already land her first bullseye with her first arrow. “That’s one.” And another. “That’s two.” And another! “That’s three. Guess you have now.”

“Wow! That lady is so cool, mum!” The little girl exclaimed, jumping up and down excitedly. 

The guy at the booth watched with his jaw dropped as she landed two more bullseyes, landing her three pushies for the price of one game. He really shouldn’t haven’t underestimated her and sighed in defeat. “Shucks, guess I can’t go back on my word now. Which three prizes would you like?”

Juliet grinned cheekily and dusted off her hands as she pondered over the selection of stuffed Pokemon. “I’ll take the Cubchoo, Eevee, and Charmander!”

Handing her the stuffed Pokemon, she gave the Cubchoo to the little girl who practically broke the sound barrier with her squeal as she hugged the ice bear stuffed animal tight. “Thank you very much, miss!”

“You’re welcome! Take good care of it, OK?” Juliet replied gently.

“I will!” She promised, running back to her mom’s side, positively beaming as they walked away and Juliet could hear the little girl’s request to her mom on whether she could try archery when she was older. She smiled to herself, before handing the Charmander plushie to Leon.

Leon blinked. “For me?”

“Who else?” She retorted with a giggle. “You could always give it to Charzard if you don’t want it-”

“No, no, I’ll keep it. Thank you, J.” He accepted the stuffed Charmander and he felt a sense of nostalgia when holding the soft plushie in his arms and he couldn’t help but blush a little. “To be honest, I used to own a few stuffed Pokemon when I was little, but to keep up with my image when I became a Champion, I ended up giving them to Hop.”

“So, does that mean you’re going to go out and buy more for yourself?” She teased lightly.

He scratched his cheek sheepishly. “Maybe not on my own volition but, I certainly wouldn’t say no to them, especially if they came from you.”

Especially if they came from you. She had a hard time not blushing at that comment considering how it tickled her heart. “You’re sweet, Leon. There’s actually one more thing that’s a must on my list that I think is just what you need.”

“And what’s that?”

Her eyes sparkled just as brightly as the fireworks above their heads. “Let’s have a Pokemon battle!”

* * *

Juliet instructed Leon to wait in the park, while she went off to give Mary the Eevee plushie that she had won for her, as well as to ‘prepare’. What that entailed, he didn’t know, but he had a moment to reflect on the offer while watching two trainers battle on the make-shift battlefield that was outlined in the grass. Was it too soon to battle right after losing the biggest match of his life? What if he second guessed himself and made a fool out of him and his Pokemon? He felt silly for thinking that way, considering this was likely going to be a friendly match with the person he held so dear to him, so maybe he was taking it a bit too seriously. He felt conflicted, that much he knew. 

“Hey, Leon! Sorry for the wait-”

“It’s OK, J-” His breath caught in his throat when he lifted his head to properly greet Juliet. She had a shy smile on her face as she playfully twirled around in her dream Champion outfit before ending with a polite curtsy. He didn’t get a chance to say it in her dreams but looking at her now, she was the most lovely woman he laid eyes on; adorned in an attire that truly showed who she really was and who she had become.

Like a Silcoon evolving into a Beautifly.

“This is probably a bit extra for a friendly match, but I really wanted to try battling in this again. I’m still shocked that I found this in my closet when I was sure I never had it made, but maybe it was a sign - a sign to embrace who I used to be, and who I want to be now.” She held out her hand to him. “Better late than never, right? Will you battle me, Leon?”

Seeing her try so hard for herself, but for him as well, how could he say no? He took her hand without a second thought and pulled himself up from the park bench. “I’d be honoured.”

Luckily they didn’t have to wait long for their turn, as the trainers who were battling had just finished up and they took their places on opposite ends of the field - both of them holding their Pokemon of choice. Raihan, eager to see the battle after catching wind of it, volunteered himself as the referee and stood along the sidelines. “I’m guessing 1 vs. 1?”

“Yup!” Juliet answered.

“Aight.” Raihan pressed the record button on his Rotom phone and it flew around the field, capturing the impending battle from different angles. “This will be a 1 vs. 1 battle between Leon, former Champion of Galar; and Juliet, a former Champion of Hoenn!”

“Huh? Former Champion of Hoenn?”

“Wait! Isn’t that the woman from the news? The one who got all those trainers to help us?”

“Yeah, it is! Wow, I can’t believe she was a Champion before, but I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised! What she said was so inspiring!”

Juliet smiled to herself as she listened to the murmurings and whispers among the public who were there to witness their battle. She had come a long way from despairing over gossip, to feeling proud and fulfilled from her efforts being recognized. 

“Any taunts either of you want to throw down for we get started?” Raihan joked. 

“This battle was long overdue, but I hope I can put up a worthy fight, from a former Champion to another. Even if those titles have been rightfully taken from us, what can’t be taken away - is the heart of a Champion. So, show me what your Champion heart is made off, Leon!” She challenged proudly. Her declaration shook not only the public’s heart to the core but Leon’s as well. It felt like something flickered inside of him before burning more brightly, and stronger, and it reflected in his gaze.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time, you know. I’ve always wondered how stronger you’ve gotten and I promise that you’ll see more than what my Champion heart is capable of! It’d be my pleasure!”

“I can’t tell if you two are taunting each other or flirting…” Raihan chuckled to himself before raising both of his arms and motioning both of them to send out their Pokemon of choice. 

To Leon’s surprise, Juliet sent out Darkrai instead Hajime, her Swampert.

**“Good evening, Leon. Despite this being my first formal Pokemon battle, please do not hold back for my sake.”** Darkrai insisted, bowing his head out of courtesy.

“What Pokemon is  _ that?! _ ”

“Not just that, but did it  _ talk?! _ ”

Juliet laughed at the crowd’s gobsmacked reactions before turning back to Darkrai and her opponent. “Darkrai and I did some training together so I thought this would be a good test to see how much he learned! Give it your all, Darkrai!”

**“I will do my best.”**

Leon chuckled and tossed out Charizard, who he made sure was rested enough and healed up beforehand. “You never fail to surprise me, Juliet. In that case, give me all you’ve got!”

“Let the battle begin!” Raihan declared, cutting his hands through the air. 

* * *

“Ahh! Looks like there’s a lot of training I need to catch up if I want to have even half the shine I used to be.” Juliet lamented, but still smiling gently as she was led along by Leon’s hand in the direction of ferris wheel. Leon turned to her and shot her an encouraging smile of his own. 

“I think you shine more than you think, and you’ve definitely grown stronger since the last time we battled.”

“Hee hee, you think so? I’m glad! It was a nice change and was even a little nostalgic. I really enjoyed myself.”

He squeezed her hand. “Do you think you’ll officially go back to battling competitively?”

It felt like a blast from the past being asked that, and Leon had asked her the exact same thing all those years ago after their first battle. Funny how things have come full circle for them. 

But…

“To be perfectly honest, probably not. When I battled towards being a Champion, I did it for my parents, but deep down, I was really doing it for the joy and exhilaration. But, it was hard accepting that because I was living in a world where winning was the only thing that mattered. It became too much to bear and I crumbled under the pressure as a result. I don’t want to ever feel that way again so, if I’m going to battle, it’s going to be on my terms.”

Leon nodded in understanding and his smile widened. “And that’s exactly what you should do, and you know I’ll always be here to support you and whatever dream or goal you want to reach.”

Juliet’s smile matched his own and she couldn’t help but walk closer by his side, hoping that he could feel her gratitude and affection for him radiating off of her. “I feel the same way for you, Leon.”

Surprisingly, there weren’t many people lined up for the ferris wheel, which made it easier for them to slip into one of the carts without being seen by anyone, besides the person who was in charge of maintaining the ride and the few people who were waiting in line with their kids. 

But, before entering the cart, Leon just had to replay a moment from their past.

“Ladies first.”

Just like how her past self-reacted, she snorted and thanked him with a curtsy before climbing in with Leon following close behind her. When the ferris wheel began to rotate and their cart moved higher and higher towards the sky, she was struck with a sense of deja vu. But, rather than perfectly re-enact the scene with gratitude, she felt compelled to say something else.

Something that she should have said when they first reunited but, better late than never, right?

“I missed you, Leon.”

His eyes widened at the tender remark before softening from longing. 

“I missed you too, Juliet. A lot, actually.”

She smiled sheepishly. “I know. I’m sorry for keeping you waiting.”

“Hey, good things come to those who wait, right?” Leon chuckled. She joined in his laughter, filling the air of their little cart with warmth that only they could feel. That must have been what she felt back then, connecting with someone so deeply and profoundly that every fiber in her soul felt embraced by the delicate emotions of yearning. 

“...Remember when you told me that we aren’t the same people we were 8 years ago?” Juliet pressed her hand against the glass and smiled thoughtfully at the fireworks that continued to light up the sky. “You told me that despite that, my compassionate heart never changed. The best parts, and even the lesser versions of ourselves - they continue to live on through our present selves as proof so we can be better. So…”

She earnestly placed a hand over her heart. “I was a Champion once too, and despite how I used to turn away from it, I wouldn’t be the person I am today without it. But, I-we can be so much more than that!”

Leon couldn’t tell if the rumbling of the fireworks were shaking through his core or if his heart was exploding as well, the adrenaline from their recent battle was still buzzing in his veins.

“Remember that phone call we had a while back where I asked you what drives and motivates you? This is what you told me,”

* * *

_ “I...I want to give the people of Galar strength. Hope. Inspiration that they can do whatever it is they want to do if they put in the hard work. If I didn’t work hard, if I wasn’t strong, I wouldn’t be where I am today.” _

* * *

“You’re more than just a Champion - you’re Leon! A Pokemon trainer who never backs down from a fight and is only getting started. You still have the power to make all that happen!” Juliet beamed at him admiringly with a tilt of her head, “In a way, I understand the kind of pain you’re going through right now and it’s OK if you don’t know where to go from here. But, nothing in the world can take away all that you’ve accomplished and who you are. And I can’t wait to see what you’ll do next.”

The next few moments whizzed by in a blur, the exploding fireworks sounding muffled in her ears. And then, she noticed how the air grew a lot...warmer all of a sudden, but it was far from uncomfortable. 

Odd.

…

_ Wait. _

As if her mind recovered from buffering, her mind then began reeling uncontrollably from the eventual realization that Leon was...  _ kissing _ her. She...She had no idea what to do. Hell, this wasn’t the first time they kissed technically, but at least she was prepared for the first! Catching her by complete surprise was-!

That’s when he squeezed her a bit tighter, snapping her out of her initial panic.

He had one arm around her waist, pulled close against his body while his other hand weaved through her ponytail, keeping their lips locked like he didn’t want to let her go. 

Just like the shooting stars they saw that night. 

Her eyes softened at the thought, and from his earnest love. She slowly snaked her arms around his neck, allowing him to pull her closer and deepen the kiss. 

At that moment, Leon didn’t care if anyone saw them. He wasn’t going to let  _ anything _ interrupt them again. He held himself back for so long and he couldn’t wait anymore. 

_ He _ deserved this.  _ They _ deserved this. 

“L-Lee…” Juliet muttered against his lips as she pulled back, but his lips followed her, drawing her back into another eager kiss. Goodness, he was smothering her with affection, which she had no complaints over, except for the fact that the ferris wheel was gradually slowing down as they descended back to the ground.

She ended up having to slap a hand over his mouth, which snapped him out of his love-drunk demeanor. 

“Easy there, big guy. Time’s up on the ferris wheel.”

“O-Oh! Sorry, I...completely forgot where we were.” He admitted honestly with flushed cheeks. 

“You sure did, which I’m not complaining about but,” She kissed him teasingly on the nose. “Perhaps we should save it for a more private setting?”

Leon’s eyes lit up and his arm only tightened around her waist. Juliet imagined if he were a Yamper, his tail would be wagging like crazy from sheer joy, which to be honest, was a very cute mental image.

“Does that mean we’re-” He started before he was sternly interrupted by a cough from the ferris wheel operator. 

“Excuse me-”

“We’re so sorry for taking up your time.” Juliet cut in, pulling away from Leon, much to his dismay, until she tugged him out of the cart and dragged him away from the ferris wheel. She had brought him all the way back to the walkway, but closer around the river that flowed through Wyndon. The surface shimmered and sparkled, reflecting the fireworks that were still painting the starlit sky with explosions of colour. But the sounds of the fireworks felt distant to them, allowing them a moment of well-deserved peace from being the centre of the celebrations. 

But, they were at a loss of how to break through the...slightly awkward silence. Not to mention, her heart was pounding so hard she could hear it in her ears. It wasn’t like she didn’t know that Leon loved her, and she hoped he knew the exact thing about her - but would a proper confession be good enough for him to know just how much he meant to her? They were three simple words, and yet, they didn’t feel enough. Lord, she was so awkward and unprepared. 

“Soooooo...um…” Juliet stammered.  _ Real smooth _ , she thought sarcastically to herself. Leon’s smile turned smug and he came around behind her to loop his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. Her face erupted in embarrassment, making her turn away bashfully. 

“Yeah? Go on.”  _ Cheeky bastard- _

“Is...Is this a good idea? Holding me like this? I mean, I don’t mind and it honestly feels really nice-”

“I’m not going to hold back anymore about how I feel about you, Juliet. I’ve wanted to say this for so long…” He spun her around and cupped her cheek tenderly, gazing at her with golden eyes overflowing with love. 

_ 8 years...8 years of pent-up longing... _

“I love you.”

She heard and felt the depths of his love from those three words, proving her that they were enough. Juliet’s heart soared, and she reached up to cup his cheek as well, his beard tickling the palm of her hand and making her giggle lightly. His smile stretched wide, and she responded in kind. 

Both of their smiles were _ real. _

“I love you too, Leon.”

This time when he leaned in, she was ready and stood up on her toes to meet his kiss. It wasn’t rushed or hurried like the one he surprised her earlier - it was  _ soft, warm _ and just... **_loving._ **

Juliet wasn’t one to believe in things like soulmates or even fate, but in that moment, everything clicked and felt...right. Like she had found her other half who complimented her strengths and weaknesses, and she did the same for him. They’ve always lifted each other up when one of them was in low spirits, and when they didn’t see eye-to-eye, they confessed their faults and forgave each other. Their mutual desire to grow into better versions of themselves by each other’s side - that’s what love meant to her. 

His  _ love _ ...their  _ love _ ...made her feel so  _ happy _ . 

When he finally pulled away, he lifted her off of her feet and swung her around, laughing joyfully at their deepened bond. Her own laughter mingled with his as she nuzzled his cheek affectionately, which made his heart swell fondly.

They were so caught up in their own little world that Juliet didn’t even register the voice coming in from her walkie-talkie until the person’s shout broke through their imaginary bubble. 

_ “JULIET! HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?” _

_ Rosa.  _

And she thought she was loud at times. 

Juliet fumbled for the walkie-talkie strapped on her waist and answered it with a shaky, 

“I-I’m here! Sorry! I was...taking a power nap.”

Leon raised his eyebrow. “Really…?”

Juliet rolled her eyes and put a hand over his mouth before he could give another snarky comeback. 

_ “Well, I guess that’s fine since you’ve been travelling back and forth to check up on everyone. Anyway, should we get started on the floating lanterns event?” _

“Shoot, it’s already time? Thanks for reminding me! Let’s bring out the lanterns and start distributing them to everyone!”

_ “You got it! I’ll let everyone know! Relax and have some fun!” _

“I might do just that. Thanks Rosa! Let me know if anything happens.”

“Floating lanterns?” Leon repeated curiously, though it was muffled against her hand. 

“Yup! To end the event on a hopeful note, everyone will get a floating lantern that they’ll make a wish or pray with, before letting it go into the sky.” Juliet winked before taking off. “You stay there! I’ll get lanterns for the two of us!”

* * *

“Sorry for the wait! The lines for the lanterns were all long!” Juliet huffed, holding two gently glowing lanterns in her hands. Leon noticed that they both had different symbols on them, one had a crown and one had a star. He grinned knowingly, as she offered the crown lantern to him. The lantern was so light, but it felt warm against his hands.

“Alright, everyone! Once you have a lantern, take a moment to make a wish, and on the count of three, we’re all going to release them at the same time! Close your eyes, hold the lantern close to you, and make a wish…” Tessu announced over the intercom that relayed the message throughout the region. 

Juliet gingerly held her lantern close, and she closed her eyes. It was always difficult figuring out what to wish for in the moment, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t think of anything. The things she was scared of, the things that made her insecure, she had already acknowledged most of them, and she became a stronger person for it. Then again, self-improvement wasn’t really something she wanted to wish for - that was something she had to turn into reality for herself. 

Rather than a wish, perhaps a hope would be more fitting. 

She hoped that the important people in her life would always remain healthy, safe, and happy; she hoped that their hopes and dreams would become a reality one day. She hoped that, whoever was struggling out there in the world, knew that they weren’t alone and that it was OK to feel weak. It takes a lot of courage to reach out for help, but someone will be there to reach out for your hand. It may be hard to believe now, but everyone’s heart is strong. 

_ Even yours. _

It’ll take time, but one day, you’ll get there. Slowly, but surely.

Juliet slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head to meet Leon’s earnest gaze. She wondered what he had wished or hoped for. 

“Time’s up! Is everyone ready?!”

They both nodded to each other, their smiles never ceasing. 

“1!”

“2!”

**_“3!”_ **

They both pulled their hands away from their lanterns, watching them ascend into the night sky along with the other lanterns that rose with them. It was a breathtaking view. Everyone’s wishes and hopes mingled in the sky, sometimes knocking into each other, but always floating at their own course and leisure. 

No one knew where the lanterns would end up. Whether they kept flying into the heavens or floated to a distant region - seeing the lanterns would give them hope. 

Juliet even wondered...if Maya and her parents were watching from somewhere. 

She smiled at the thought and imagined Maya’s cheerful smile. 

“Juliet?”

Leon was looking at her instead of the floating lanterns. Tearing her gaze away from the lanterns for a moment, she turned to him with curious eyes. 

“Hm?”

“You...You know the Champion’s Banquet that will be held in Hammerlocke Castle next week?”

Champion’s Banquet? It was the first she had ever heard of it. 

“I don’t think anyone ever mentioned it to me until now, but from the name, it sounds like a fancy occasion.”

“It is. It’s essentially a private after party for everyone in the League including all the employees who helped run the Gym Challenge and Champion Cup.”

“An after party, huh? Guess that means my team would be invited-” Ahh...that meant she would have to do some dress shopping - something completely out of her expertise. Maybe Nessa and Sonia could help her? They were probably prolific in make-up as well-

“Since we’re together now, would you like to go with me as my date?” Leon asked smoothly, taking her hand and pressing his lips to the back of it, eyes fixated on her to gauge her response with playful eyes. 

Juliet’s heart jumped. 

Leon was always one for grand gestures, even ones relating to the heart. 

And she had to give it to him - his charms always had a way of making her heart melt.

“I’d love to, Leon.” She giggled when he twirled her around and tugged her back to his chest, looking at her with a dopey smile from her answer. 

“I’m so happy to hear that. Leave the arrangements to me.”

“Arrangements? Are you going to stroll up to my flat in a Rapidash drawn carriage or something?”

His smile widened. “If that’s what you want-”

“Leon, that sounds expensive. Besides, I don’t need anything extravagant like that, unless you want to?”

“Well,” Leon mused. “Maya did call me Prince Charming and if you dressed as Cinderella, I think it’d be a hit.” He was joking of course.  _ Mostly. _

He had never gone to the banquet with anyone, mainly because he was the star of the event so most of his time was allocated to private interviewers and photoshoots rather than simply enjoying the event with his friends and co-workers. Leon still had an important role to play for it, but the spotlight would be on Gloria. With him leading the event, he only allowed one interview and photoshoot each for the new Champion so she could enjoy it to its fullest. 

It was _ their  _ party, after all and no paparazzi were allowed to damper the mood. 

“Quite the romantic, aren’t you?” Juliet snorted. It was a cute idea, she had to admit it. But it felt more in-character to go as themselves. They weren’t a Prince or a Princess, but that didn’t make them any less special to each other. 

“As lovely as that sounds, I’d rather we go as ourselves. I very much prefer going on a date with you than any Prince.” She replied sweetly. 

Leon felt his heart grow from that. She didn’t pull any punches when it came to being romantic either, and she clearly knew exactly what to say to get him where it mattered. 

“I feel the same about you. I can’t wait until then! Especially since I have something special planned for it.” He winked teasingly. 

“And something tells me you won’t say, huh?” She replied back playfully. 

“Nope. You’ll just have to see for yourself.”

“Hee hee, alright. I’ll be patient until then.” Looking up at the sky, most of the lanterns could hardly be seen anymore, but their hopeful glow lingered in their hearts. They still had an hour or two left before the celebration would finally be over, which meant it was a good time to browse through the main district while families returned home with their children. 

Juliet gently pulled his hand, guiding him out of the walkway and back to the main streets so partake in more activities. “Come on! This date isn’t finished yet.”

Leon laughed heartily, letting himself be led along through the warmth of her hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After almost 200k words, there you have it folks - they finally kissed! :^)
> 
> Fun fact - Once a Champion, Always a Champion was the original title for this fanfic before changing to Heart of a Champion, and then finally The Ties That Bind since I felt it fit with the overall themes more! 
> 
> It's a little bittersweet to think about how next week's chapter will be the final one but to everyone who has stuck around for this long, thank you so so much for reading this and indulging me with your comments ;u; I promise that I read every single one and I don't comment mainly because I don't want to sound like a broken record or disingenuous by saying 'thank you' over and over but really, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
> 
> I'll be more sentimental next week with my thank yous, as well as plugging things I've commissioned for Juliet and Leon (their ship name is TrueSmileShipping btw!) so just in case you're itching for more content after next week's finale, I have plenty to share with you all!
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading this chapter and feel free to leave a kudos and or comment if you'd like!
> 
> I hope to see you all next week for the finale of "The Ties That Bind"!


	33. Epilogue - Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We might have lost the way, but when we stand hand in hand, we'll see the future we believe.

“Package for Juliet!”

“A package?” What could it be? She hadn’t purchased anything online recently nor was she expecting any sort of gift from anybody. After signing the release form, she took the small box and sliced it open using her house key. Inside were two envelopes and a flat velvet jewelry box. 

Always read the letters first, she thought to herself. She noticed that one of them had a sticky note attached that had ‘read me first’ written on it so she carefully tore open the letter and began reading it. It was from her aunt. 

_ Dear Juliet, _

_ You might be surprised to receive another package from me even though I already sent you something for your birthday awhile ago. This isn’t a gift, at least not from me. While I was cleaning up my study, I found these two presents tucked away in one of my filing cabinets, both of them addressed to you.  _

_ You’ll know when you see them and I’m so sorry that I didn’t send them when I first got them. Poor Leon back then must have been heart-broken that you didn’t get his letter and gift that I was supposed to send to you. It may be pretty late, but it’s only right that I send you what’s yours.  _

_ I hope you can forgive your aunt’s forgetfulness, sweetie. _

_ Love, Tiffany _

Ah.

This must be the elusive letter that Leon had sent her, but didn’t receive due to setting off on her journey across the other regions shortly after he left. She was...hesitant about opening it, mainly because it was meant for her younger self, sent by Leon’s younger self. Then again, she had been so curious about what was written in it based on Leon’s reaction every time she brought it up. She couldn’t help but smirk a little, thinking about his younger self’s earnest, yet inexperience, feelings. 

She was technically in the same boat too - he was her first love.

Picking up the pastel pink envelope, she took her time in admiring his penmanship, which was just the letter ‘J’ in cursive on the front. Keeping the envelope closed was a red heart sticker, a clear indication of the contents of the letter, making her eyes widen a little. 

It really was a love letter, right down to the sticker. 

She couldn’t fight how her heart leaped into her throat. Gently plucking the sticker with the envelope flap, she pulled out the folded letter which was written on a starry themed stationary sheet. How thematic. 

_ To my dear friend J,  _

_ It’s been awhile since we last talked. How are you? I hope you and your family are doing well! As for me, my duties in Galar have been keeping me busy these past few months, but no matter how tired I am, when my mind wanders to you, I feel so much better. I often think about what you’re doing, where you’re going, what Pokemon you’ve seen! I bet you’re seeing so many different sights and making new friends out there.  _

_ I promised to tell you who I am one day, and here it is.  _

_ I’m the Champion of the Galar region. Crazy, huh? I can only imagine the shock on your face right now! Or, maybe not. Knowing how perceptive you are, maybe you knew all along. Either way, now that you know, has your impression of me changed? I didn’t want to tell you when we first met because I didn’t want you to gain any sort of expectation of who I am just from that title alone. I already get that all the time here. People act a certain way around you when you’re a Champion, like...if they act nice or polite, they’ll get something out of it, instead of just being themselves. When I realized how some people put on that sort of facade just to keep me pleased, it hurt. It hurt knowing that the only reason they wanted me to be happy was for their own selfish intentions.  _

_ They didn’t want to know the real me.  _

_ If you’re angry that I’ve deceived you, then I’m so sorry. I don’t blame you for being mad at me, but I hope you find it in your heart to understand and sympathize with my reasons for doing so. Though, knowing how compassionate you are, I don’t think I have to worry about that.  _

_ I just wanted a time where I didn’t have to worry about being a Champion. I could go back to being just a regular trainer from a small town who is passionate about Pokemon battles. Not some sort of untouchable God that people should worship.  _

_ Meeting you, spending time with you, was all I could ever ask for.  _

_ I never knew what it was like to have a deep connection with someone until I met you. Even with your own hardships and struggles, your compassionate and empathetic heart meant the world to me. I didn’t have to hide how I was feeling, because you were always ready to welcome and validate them with open arms. You taught me that there’s strength in showing weakness, and that there’s nothing wrong with being weak. Your compassion made me into a stronger person. _

_ I could go on and on...but, perhaps I’ll save that for when we see each other again. I know we will.  _

_ But for now, what I really want to say is this: _

_ You mean a lot to me, J. And...I love you – from the bottom of my heart. _

_ It’s OK if you don’t feel the same way, but I want you to know just how happy and grateful I am that I’ve met you. Even if we’re regions apart, I’ll always be thinking about you.  _

_ Thank you for everything, and until we meet again.  _

_ Love, Leon _

_ (P.S. I hope you like the gift I picked out for you. I had some help picking it out but I hope it reminds you of the sight we saw on that night.) _

Love letters were supposed to make you feel flustered, over the moon even! But there Juliet was, with gentle streams of tears running down her face from reading the depths of Leon’s feelings from the past. She felt guilty – guilty that she didn’t get this letter sooner to answer his feelings. She felt guilty that it took her this long to remember their time together, even if there were...external factors that were preventing her from remembering. 

She still hurt him, regardless of when. 

But, even after all this time, he still cared about her. Now that she could remember the details that were no longer being hidden away, she had weeks to reflect on how she was really feeling. Even if you forget certain memories, it doesn’t erase those feelings and experiences of the moment, which ultimately impact who you are, one way or another.

Even if she couldn’t recall those memories until now, her feelings for him grew fonder over the course of meeting him again – like she was...falling in love with him all over again. She had always been enamoured by his confidence and passion like many people are, but getting to know his gentler side – there were qualities about him that she saw in herself that she wanted to embrace and comfort. Just as she wanted to be there to support him through the ups and downs, he wanted to do the same for her. Leon reminded her time and time again at how proud he was of her. It didn’t matter if he was a Champion, he meant it when he said it. His earnest nature always made her smile.

Opening her heart to his feelings helped her come to terms with her own pain.

They were together now, but receiving his letter made her want to properly reveal the depths of her feelings for him, just as he did. 

And now, she could look at herself in the mirror and say, “I’m strong.” and she would believe every word. 

Setting down the letter, she opened the lid of the velvet box, which revealed a beautiful gold rimmed star shaped necklace with the night sky in the centre. 

The sight they shared that night...Always the romantic, Leon was. 

She smiled adoringly at the thought. 

And then, a plan hatched into her mind. 

* * *

“You have everything, mate?”

“For the last time, Raihan, I got it! I’m not totally hopeless!” Leon groaned as he checked for the 12th time, the items that Raihan insisted that he needed to have for the date. Honestly, mints and some cologne he could understand, but why in the world did he have to give him condoms too?! Sure, he had been pining for her for years and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want her but-

Arceus, now wasn’t the time for his mind to go straight to the gutter before the date even  _ started.  _

“Look, Leon. You have to be prepared for anything. You’ll thank me later.”

“Right. Can you leave so I can go pick up my date already?”

Raihan clicked his tongue in mock offence. “How rude. Good luck, mate.” 

When Leon finally arrived at Juliet’s flat, he felt nerves start to settle in. With his fist raised to knock on her door, a flurry of anxious thoughts began to whirl around in his head and his palms began to feel clammy. What if she didn’t want to go after all? What if she didn’t like the way he was dressed?

What if she-

“Oh! Lee, you’re here already!”

Leon’s head whipped around and it felt like someone knocked out all the air in his lungs when he laid his eyes on her absolute beauty. Instead of her usual twin braids, her hair was pulled up to the side in an elegant bundle of buns that formed a flower, with a star clip that had cloth hanging from it, making it look like a shooting star was keeping her hair in place. Her knee length dress looked like it came from the galaxy itself, washed in different shades of deep blues with white speckles dotted all over to look like stars, and the hem of her dress lined in gold with star ornaments dangling at the ends of her dress. But what made her look utterly majestic was the sheer light overcoat she wore over herself, lined in gold, and flayed over her dress like a curtain and down to her ankles. And hanging from her ears were sparkling teardrop shaped earrings. 

It was like she was the Goddess of the Stars and she honoured him with her presence. 

Seeing him openly gawk at her made her giggle and she humoured him with a little twirl and a curtsy. He coughed to clear his throat and straightened his back before offering a bow himself and gingerly taking one of her hands in his. Without breaking eye contact, he brought her hand up to his lips and pressed his lips against the back of it, and he felt a swell of pride seeing her blush a pretty pink at his smooth gesture. 

“Aren’t you a charmer?” She breathed. He kissed her hand again and she felt him smile. 

“Is it working?” He wondered, playfulness bouncing in his voice.

Her heart fluttered. “Y-Yeah. I think so.”

“Good. You’re absolutely breath-taking, Juliet.” He said with a wide smile. Her blush deepened and she couldn’t help but feel a sense of giddiness well up inside her with every smooth line that left his lips. 

But, enough about her – he was a sight for sore eyes as well. His long lilac hair was tied into a low ponytail with a red ribbon. He wore a wine red tail coat with golden tassels hanging from his shoulders and an ivory white cravat hanging around his neck. His tail coat was also lined in gold embroidery, making him shimmer with each step he took. He looked incredibly regal, like he was a spitting image of a prince from a fairy tale, like they had previously joked about before. And he even carried an air of someone from nobility from his gentlemanly mannerisms. 

She placed both hands on his chest and looked up at him with loving eyes.. “You’re very handsome yourself. You definitely look like a Prince, ready to sweep up the belle of the ball.”

And with that, Leon tucked his arm under her legs and lifted her off of the ground, carrying her like she was his princess. “Seems like I’ve found her.” He laughed warmly upon seeing her blush spread right to her ears and she covered her face out of embarrassment.

“You’re gonna be the death of me...” She muffled into her hands.

“Can’t have that, can we?” He lowered her back on her feet before pulling out the bouquet of roses from the shopping bag he carried with him. “For you.”

“Geez, Leon. Are you going to surprise me with that Rapidash drawn carriage next?” Juliet laughed, graciously taking the beautiful bouquet of flowers. She had never gotten flowers from anyone before. At least, not face to face. Not even when she became Champion. She always thought that she didn’t need them, but the thought behind them made her feel loved and appreciated. 

“Unfortunately all the Rapidash carriages were booked.” Leon chuckled jokingly. “It’s not much and riding my Charizard might draw attention but I hope you don’t mind getting there via Corviknight Taxi.” Admittedly, Leon thought about renting out a limo but he thought it was a bit too...much for the both of them. And it would draw a lot of attention when they arrived.

“Of course I don’t mind. Might be safer honestly because of my dress.” Smoothing out her dress, she breezed past Leon back into her flat to find a vase to put the bouquet of flowers in. She almost didn’t notice the small card that was sitting in the bundle of flowers and good thing she did notice or it would have fallen into the water filled vase. She plucked it out of the bunch and turned it over to see,

_ To the Champion of my heart <3 _

He...He really did adore her. 

It felt like a hundred Kakunas evolved into Butterfrees all at the same time in her stomach, from how moved she was by every display of his affections. She honestly felt like she could cry at any moment, unused to having someone treat her as lovingly as he did.

“Lee...” 

He came up from behind her and embraced her gently, giving the crown of her hair a chaste kiss before smiling. “Shall we get going?”

Juliet stood up on her toes and kissed his cheek. “Yeah, let’s go!”

* * *

Even from the skies, Juliet gulped at the sight of all the people who were crowded outside of Hammerlocke Castle. Surely the league wasn’t this big, was it? Wasn’t this supposed to be a relatively private after party? And yet people were lined up like they were going to a movie premier. Leon leaned over to look out her window and he let out an exasperated sigh. 

“They never learn do they…” His hands came up to rub her shoulders soothingly. “Relax, J. This happens every year. Paparazzi and fans alike always try to sneak into the Champion’s Banquet. But, it’s invitation only, of course.”

Juliet grimaced. “Geez, as if all of them are going to fit inside! I kind of feel bad because they’re setting themselves up for disappointment.”

“Well, one thing’s for sure is that we’re not going in through the front entrance-” Leon pressed the button that acted as an intercom for the Cabbie operating the Corviknight Taxi. “Hey, do you think you could land on the summit of Hammerlocke Castle? They’re going to cause a ruckus the moment they see us.”

“Sure thing, Champion!” The Cabbie replied. 

“That’s former to you.” He replied back with a chuckle. 

The Corviknight Taxi ascended higher into the air, flying over to the round-shaped summit where any havoc that was left behind from the battle against Eternatus on that fateful day was nowhere to be seen. The couple felt strange stepping out of the taxi onto the very place where they stood on opposite sides in a battle that nearly killed them both. It was surreal, maybe even a bit morbid, but that event was behind him, because the view from the top of the castle was a beautiful sight and the breeze felt pleasant - a sight that couldn’t be tarnished by unpleasant memories. 

Long after the Corviknight Taxi was out of sight, they couldn’t help but just stand there in awe, as if they were reliving the past all over again. 

That is until Leon came up from behind Juliet and held her close. 

“Never again…” He muttered into her shoulder.

“Never again.” She echoed back, reaching up with one hand to cradle his head, and hold his hands that were wrapped around her waist with the other. She turned around in his arms to wipe the tears that were pooling in the corner of his eyes. She then stood up on her toes and kissed him gently, reminding him that they were both here, alive, and that neither of them were going to suddenly disappear when they opened their eyes. 

When Leon opened his eyes and saw that she was still there, beaming up at him, his smile grew and he held her tightly against him. “I love you. I love you so much…”

Juliet giggled softly. “I love you too, Leon. Are you sure you want to go down to the banquet? I figured you have some important things to take care of there, but I don’t think it would make anyone happy if your heart wasn’t in it.”

“I’ll be OK. As long as you’re with me.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I promise.” Juliet extended her hand out to him, which he took in an instant, and she led him down the steps towards the elevator that would take them to a night of celebration, surrounded by just friends and co-workers. The elevator stopped on a floor on the way down to the elevator and the couple didn’t expect to see Raihan and Mary when the doors opened. 

“Oh! Hi Jules, hi Leon!” Mary greeted cheerfully. 

“Hi Mary! Wait, how did you two get in if you didn’t take the front entrance?” 

Raihan pointed at himself proudly as he stepped into the elevator. “You think I wouldn’t know all the secret entrances and rooms in this place? This castle is thousands of years old so there’s going to be lots of hidden secrets.”

“That’s...That sounds really cool, to be honest. So, are there things like hidden staircases that can only be revealed by pulling a book from a shelf?” Juliet asked excitedly.

“Even better - there are a few places around the castle that reveal hidden rooms by pushing against a tile in the wall-”

From the sound of that, Juliet was just about ready to ditch going to the ball in favor of living out her video game fantasies until Raihan made a snide remark about her height - something that was unfortunately a favourite hobby of his. 

“Hey, did you get taller? Must be the heels, huh-”

Juliet huffed annoyingly, making the other three laugh before Leon patted her back reassuringly. “Come on, Raihan. That’s no way to talk to a VIP guest-”

“VIP? Me?” Juliet blinked confusingly.

Leon only offered her a wink in response and led her out when the elevators opened on their floor. The distant sounds of an orchestra grew closer and closer as they made their way towards two grand looking double doors. The party sounded like it was already in full swing from the music and laughter that filled the air, but with it filled Juliet with a sense of nervousness and slight panic knowing that when the doors opened, everyone’s eyes would be on them. 

Noticing her tensed shoulders, Leon squeezed her hand. “It’s going to be OK. It’s just our friends and co-workers behind these doors.”

“R-Right...Sorry, I’m a bit out of my element here so this is going to take some time getting used to.” Juliet wheezed out in between taking deep breaths to calm her rapidly beating heart. 

“Take all the time you need, J. I’ll be with you so let’s take it slow, OK?” Leon reassured, pushing one of the doors with his free hand and guided her into the grand ball room that was just about everything she would expect from one in a castle. A grand crystal chandelier, a grand staircase that was carpeted in red - just about everything in the spacious room was grand and it boggled her mind knowing that people used to live like this. It was beyond what she was used to, but it fulfilled a long-time childhood wish of wanting to experience the decadence of royalty from reading fairy tales.

“...Wow.” Was all Juliet could say through her awe.

“Wow indeed. Even I’m not quite used to it.” Leon chuckled before turning to her and carefully grabbing both of her shoulders. “I have to go and get ready for the main event so try to have some fun before I get back, OK?”

“I will! I’m looking forward to seeing what you have prepared.” Juliet answered, giving a quick kiss on his cheek as he weaved through the crowd and proceeded to walk up the grand staircase. 

“Juliet!”

Juliet whipped her head around to see acknowledge who was calling her and waved back to Tessu and Vanquil, who looked like they both just arrived by how frazzled they looked. They must have made the mistake of going through the front entrance. When Juliet approached the pair, they were also joined by Sonia and Nessa, who were helping them regain their composure. 

“Got caught by the paparazzi?” Sonia laughed while combing Tessu’s hair.

“That’s putting it lightly! It was so hard to know where we were even going because of all the flashing cameras!” Tessu complained.

“Ugh, I think someone yanked my hair and I spent all this time slicking it back.” Vanquil grumbled. 

“Should have asked Raihan about the many secret entrances around this place.” Juliet joked. 

“I would have but we didn’t have time because, you know…” Raihan trailed off knowingly.

“Then, let’s make up for that another day now that the Gym Challenge is over - you guys have more time now right?” Mary asked.

“That actually brings up my next point. Though we do have more time, we actually spend most of it training on the Isle of Armor to prepare for next year. Of course, we train on our own for the most part but for the first few days we hold a training camp at the Dojo. You four are more than welcome to join us if you’d like.” Nessa offered.

“That’s great timing then! We actually talked about checking it out because there’s plenty of Power Spots there!” Vanquil agreed eagerly. “We also have our eyes set on the Crown Tundra too but…”

Juliet shivered at the thought. She wasn’t looking forward to that. Being a Hoennian meant that she had little to no tolerance towards the cold. Raihan snorted, noticing her shivering. 

“You and me both Juliet. I’d rather burn my arse off over freezing my arse off.”

“Really? I figured you’re always warm because you’re always wearing that hoodie.”

“Maybe he really is part dragon.” Sonia whispered to Mary, making her giggle uncontrollably. 

“If I can get everyone’s attention, please!”

They turned their heads to the grand staircase and Juliet’s jaw dropped. Leon stood at the base of the step with a golden crown on his head, and a large velvet red cape draped over his shoulders and dragged along the ground behind him. The two articles of clothing matched perfectly with his attire, completing the royal ensemble. In his hand was a sword that shined and reflected brilliantly against the lights beaming down from above. In front of him was Gloria, decked out in a lovely pink dressed, who knelt down on one knee. 

“This is the first time you’re witnessing the Crowning Champion tradition, right?” Nessa whispered to Juliet.

Juliet nodded wordlessly, watching the scene with growing fascination. So, in Galar, they didn’t have the usual Hall of Fame as she would have expected and in its place, a ceremony of sorts to dub and honour the new Champion with its prestigious title. Was this to honour the old tradition of crowning heroes, princes, and princesses? Whatever the reason was, she felt honoured that she got to witness Gloria being crowned the new Champion of Galar. 

“13 years ago, I remember the day I accepted my title as Champion like it happened yesterday. I felt many things - joy, excitement, honour, strength - and to be able to pass down those emotions to one who has earned the title of Champion, I couldn’t be more proud.” Leon carefully lowered the sword and tapped it gently on each of her shoulders before letting it rest on one. “Gloria, the title of Champion will bring you fortune as long as you don’t stray from what it means to be Galar’s Champion. But, with that fortune, comes great responsibility and even burdens. I promise you as the previous Champion to offer guidance, but there are things only you can accomplish. With that in mind, will you still accept the title of Champion?”

Gloria raised her head and looked at Leon with strengthened resolve in her eyes. “Of course. I will honour this title for myself, for you, and all the Champions of the past.”

Leon grinned and sheathed the sword. He beckoned her to stand and he reached up to remove the crown from his head. He slowly lowered it onto her head and reached for the velvety cape from his shoulders. “Your new Champion has spoken! Please give a big round of applause to Champion Gloria!”

The room erupted in applause, hoots, hollers, and whistling, for Gloria, making her cheeks flare up and eyes fall to the floor in embarrassment. Leon raised his hand once more to quiet down the crowd. 

“Normally that would be the end of the ceremony but I have two more people that I’d like to honor tonight. Can Hop and Juliet step forward, please?”

The sound of someone choking on their drink reached her ears and looking over, it looked like Hop was so taken aback by the announcement that he nearly spat out his drink. Juliet stifled a chuckle as she slowly made her way to the front, until she stood next to Hop. 

“You OK there?” She asked quietly.

Hop cleared his throat and gave her a sheepish thumbs up. “Never better.”

“Glora. Hop. Juliet.” Leon started. “I know you’re probably heard this many times already during the past few weeks, but on behalf of Galar and the Pokemon League, we want to formally thank you for rising above the occasion and standing up for what’s right. The Pokemon League would like to honor you three with commemorative medals.” He opened the sleek black case that a League member was holding, revealing three golden medals with different coloured straps. He picked up the medal with the red strap and wrapped it around Gloria’s neck.

“Thank you, Gloria, for harnessing Zacian to fight.”

Next, he picked up the medal with the blue strap and wrapped it around Hop’s neck.

“Thank you, Hop, for harnessing Zamazenta to protect.”

Finally, he picked up the medal with the green strap and wrapped it around Juliet’s neck.

“Thank you, Juliet, for using your voice to lead and to give everyone hope.”

The ballroom broke out into applause again, but rather than feeling embarrassed or bashful, Juliet was in a weird limbo of being in both disbelief and...flattery? To her, the greatest reward for what she did was knowing that she was able to protect everything that mattered to you. Getting a medal for it felt like the icing on the cake. She didn’t notice Leon coming up from behind her until he put a hand on her back. 

“Surprised?” He asked curiously.

Juliet smiled gently. “Surprised and flattered. Thank you, Leon.”

“No, thank you. I hope you know just how incredibly grateful for everything you’ve done. Maybe a medal isn’t enough but-”

She interrupted him with a warm laugh. “It’s more than enough, Lee. Really. I’m not going to minimize my accomplishments anymore - that wouldn’t be fair to you or anyone else who believed in me.”

Leon let out a sigh of relief before chuckling. “I’m happy to hear that. Now that that’s over, may I have this-”

Suddenly, the doors burst open with flashing cameras and overzealous fans, who started to pile into the ballroom much to the shock of everyone else. Leon groaned in frustration and turned to a League member. “How did they get past security?!”

“I-I don’t know but we’re going to kick them out! Everyone, please escort any intruders and uninvited guests out of the venue!”

“Oh my gosh! Look! It’s Raihan! Can you pleaaaase take a selfie with me?”

“Ah, over there is Leon!

As a crowd of fans made a mad dash towards them, Leon turned to Juliet and said, “Hang on to me.”

“Huh-” Before she could reply, he swept her off her feet and made a beeline up the stairs which slowed the fans down enough to be pulled back by back-up security. Leon didn’t exactly know where he was going in this giant castle, but being lost was better than having the fans on their trail. When he was sure they were alone, he stopped and gently lowered Juliet back to her feet. 

“Are you OK, J?” He heaved. 

“I-I’m OK. But, wow that escalated really quickly.”

“That’s unfortunately happened before.” Leon sighed. “We should probably wait until they’re gone.”

“Good idea, but what should we do in the meantime?” Juliet asked, looking around curiously at the decorative hallway they were in. 

Leon took her hand and smiled. “Follow me. I think I have a basic idea of where we are or at least, I know where we could go.”

He wished he didn’t have to lead her away from the flashing cameras and uninvited persistent journalists that somehow snuck into the banquet without being seen by security, unfortunately putting them right into the hands of their unbridled curiosity over their relationship. Even without the crown of Champion no longer weighing him down, people weren’t going to forget about him so easily. It was nice knowing that he left behind a legacy that would always make him known and recognizable, he really wanted things to simmer down so he could experience things he couldn’t when he was Champion. 

One of them being a relationship. 

A loving relationship with the woman he had been in love with for so  _ long. _

He knew just where to take her, opening up one of the glass doors that led outside to one of the terraces of Hammerlocke Castle. It had a clear ‘do not enter’ sign in the front, but that warning was for regular attendees so they wouldn’t interrupt or spy on their time together, with just each other. It was a beautiful terrace, decorated with floral shrubs and archways, and a small fountain that lit up in different colours in the centre. 

“This terrace is so pretty! I feel like I’m in Alice in Wonderland or something.” Juliet giggled, wandering over to the fountain and propping herself on the marble edge like it was a bench. Leon followed suit, sitting himself beside her and watched her with soft eyes as she stared at the changing lights of the fountain in wonder. 

“So, is this also what you meant by arrangements?” She mused cheekily. “There was clearly a ‘do not enter’ sign, but that warning wasn’t for us.”

“Heh, you catch on quick. There are a few terraces around Hammerlocke castle that can be rented out for tea parties, social gatherings - that kind of thing. Technically the terraces are off limits when bigger events like the banquet are running, but I had some help from Raihan to work around that.” He gently pulled her back onto her feet and linked their arms together as they walked through the garden under the ethereal moonlit sky. 

“I figured that if someone were to try to pry into our relationship, this would be a good place to go to for some peace.” He clasped both of her hands and gazed at her earnestly. “As much as I don’t want to keep hiding from the world just how much you mean to me, I don’t want anything to happen to you as a result. I want to protect you, and what we have.”

“Leon…” Juliet reached up and tenderly caressed his cheek, to which he held it with his own to keep it there. Her gentle touch made his heart swell longingly. 

“Thank you for being so considerate of me and our relationship. But, at the same time, I don’t want you to hold back for my sake. If your heart wants you to hold me a little tighter, or to reach out to hold my hand, then do it. I want you to.” Juliet stood up on her toes, and brought his head down so she could press their foreheads together. “There will be consequences if people find out, but I don’t think it’s fair to put their feelings before ours. This is our relationship, and this is what we want.”

Leon’s arms snaked around her waist and pulled her close to him. He didn’t want their relationship to be some sort of spectacle - they were just two people in love, something that anyone was capable of. But, they both knew that was something that they’d have to adapt to. However, above else, they weren’t going to let anyone have a say in how they should feel towards each other. “...OK. But, if it ever gets too much, I want you to let me know. We can work things out and I’ll be there for you.”

“Me too, Lee.” Juliet reached into her small hand bag and pulled out the letter he wrote for her along with the velvet box containing his necklace. “... I have something I want to show you.” 

Leon recognized them immediately and his eyes widened. 

“I thought you didn’t get them...”

“My aunt sent them to me a few days ago. She’s really sorry for not sending them to me earlier when she got them. Seems like she forgot.” She smiled apologetically before pulling out the necklace from the velvet box. She handed him the necklace with expectant eyes. 

Leon didn’t need to be told twice. He unhooked the necklace and wrapped it around her neck, watching the star charm sparkle when he clipped the chain. Just as he expected, it looked beautiful on her, and coincidentally matched with her dress too. She affectionately beamed at him, holding the necklace preciously between her fingers. 

“What do you think?”

“A lovely necklace for an equally lovely woman.”

She giggled warmly. “Thank you, Lee. Do you...want to read what your past self wrote to me?”

Leon tensed up, feeling embarrassment rise up inside of him at the prospect of what his younger self wrote to her. He remembered vaguely of what he wrote, but not enough to know if he should brace himself. “S-Sure.”

Taking the letter from her hands, she watched his golden eyes skim through each line and word with an unreadable expression, until she noticed his cheeks burning up as he got towards the end of his letter. 

“But, that’s not all. I have something for you.” She held out the love letter she had written for him from behind her back, along with a small wrapped present. Leon’s eyes softened. She didn’t have to go through the trouble of getting him anything, let alone write him a love letter like he had done before.

“I know what you’re thinking, but, this is my way of giving our past selves closure for not keeping in touch. Will you accept it?”

“Of course.” He graciously accepted the letter and carefully opened it, pulling out the folded letter that was written on a fire themed stationary. How thematic for him.

_ Dear Lee, _

_ I’m sorry it’s taken so long for me to write back, but better late than never, right? _

_ First of all, thank you. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for you to keep those feelings from me all these years, and it probably made it harder after learning that I couldn’t remember the time we shared. I hurt you, regardless of the circumstance, and I’ll always be sorry for that.  _

_ That being said, now that I can think back to how happy I was when I was with you, whether it was through our talks or our battles - you gave me the push I needed to start moving again when I was still so afraid of the world. I was so ashamed of who I was, and for the longest time, I thought no one would want to love me for how broken I was. The easiest thing for me to do was to keep my heart away from everyone so no one could see how ugly I was on the inside.  _

_ And then, you came into my life, and I don’t think either of us expected to get along as well as we did. I was a helper at an inn, and you were a guest on vacation like many others. Yet you went out of your way to see me, of all people. I wasn’t expecting it, but it meant the world to me, that someone wanted to be friends with me. I won’t lie and say I wasn’t drawn in by your unique charms at the time.  _

_ Then, I slowly found myself growing attached...and then falling in love with you.  _

_ Underneath all that Champion bravado, I’ve always known there was another side of you that I could relate to, knowing that I’ve been in a similar position before. I knew how hard it can be to put on a brave face for everyone so no one would worry about you; to know that you had a weakness. And I knew that hiding that part of yourself, only makes you feel more lonely. I hurt knowing you felt that way, which is why I wanted to be someone who you could let your guard down for. To everyone else, you were Champion Leon, Hero of Galar, but you’re more than that to me.  _

_ You’re sweet, generous, charismatic, and perhaps even a bit impulsive at times. Seeing you laugh and smile genuinely for yourself rather than for others, that’s one side of you that I absolutely adore. Whatever you’re going through, whatever you’re upset about – I don’t want you to feel scared about feeling that way and I don’t want you to feel scared about talking it out with me. You know I would never belittle or shun you away, right?  _

_ And lastly, thank you again, from the bottom of my endless heart, for believing in me when I couldn’t. It’s because of you that I’ve become strong and confident enough to be proud of who I am. I believe in the strength of my heart to stand up for myself and I know there will always be someone who supports me. My friends, my family in Lavaridge Town, and you. _

_ I love you too, Lee - more than words can convey alone.  _

_ I won’t ever forget a single moment we spend together, because you’ll always have a special place, right here in my heart.  _

_ Love, Juliet _

_ (P.S. I wasn’t sure exactly what to get you in return since you don’t strike me as the jewellry type, but I hope you’ll wear what I got for you sometime!) _

Leon couldn’t hold himself back from kissing her passionately, pulling her tighter against his chest as he poured all of his love into the kiss in hopes she knew just how happy he was by her love. She eagerly returned his enthusiasm by wrapping her arms around his neck, letting him plant kiss after kiss against her lips. Even when he finally pulled away, his lips found themselves against the side of her head, unable to cease his affections as he gently swayed the Champion of his heart in a slow dance. 

“Thank you, J...I’m sure my younger self would have fainted after reading that.”

“And your current self?” 

He tenderly swiped his thumb across her soft cheek, his smile growing wider. “May I kiss you again?”

“Of course.” She beamed, letting him kiss her for the upteenth time of the night. “And don’t forget your present! I hope you like it.”

“I’m sure I will.” Taking the present, he carefully removed the wrapping paper and lifted the lid of the box to reveal a golden crown brooch decorated with a single ruby in the centre, connected by a matching chain. It was regal, yet simple - a perfect fit for someone like him. Plucking the brooch from the box, he held it up to the front of his suit as he looked at her expectantly. 

Juliet giggled knowingly, and pinned the brooch over the chest pocket of his blazer, where it sparkled magnificently under the moonlight. 

“How does it look?” 

“I knew it’d look great on you! It definitely fits you more than that crown you wore on your head earlier.” Juliet teased. 

“I agree. It’s a lot less heavy and obtrusive.” Leon joked back.

They both laughed at their silly banter and pressed their foreheads together, gazing at each other lovingly and basking in the moment of peace that didn’t need to be filled with words.

But, they had to go back to the party eventually. 

Juliet caressed his cheeks and kissed the tip of his nose. “We should return to the party.”

He pouted and held her tighter. “Where the guests might hound us? I think they can live without us for a little while longer.”

“...That might give them ideas, Lee. Besides, all our friends are there too.”

“...But, I won’t be able to hold you like this when we go back. At least, not until the media leaves.”

What a loving man. But, she couldn’t blame him for being a bit clingy. If he loved her for so long, he must have held himself back for just as long, and now that he had her, he didn’t want to let her go. She smiled knowingly and kissed him gently, as if reassuring him that they had all the time in the world to be together. “I know, but that doesn’t mean you can’t dance with me. You won’t say no to that, will you?”

He twirled her playfully. “Of course not! I’ve been to these kinds of events for as long as I can remember so I’ll show you what I can do on the dance floor.”

“Good, because I don’t know how to dance.” She admitted shyly. 

“Don’t worry, it’s easier than it looks. We’ll knock them dead.” Leon winked before offering his arm for her to link so they could return to the party. She rolled her eyes at his boasting and looped her arm through his, letting him guide the way back. She gripped the sleeve of his tail coat a bit tighter as they approached closer and closer to the ballroom from the tell-tale orchestra music that reached their ears. They braced themselves for the onslaught of flashing cameras and microphones, but there was none, making them look at each other in confusion. 

“About time you two got back.” Raihan greeted with a sly grin, noting how they leaned closer to each other than when they first made their entrance to the party. “Looks like you two are cozier than usual. Had your own fun?”

They both blushed, Leon rolling his eyes at the implication. “We spent some time at the terrace, that’s all.”

“The view was really pretty and the garden was nice too! Thanks for reserving it for us, Raihan.” Juliet thanked with a small smile. 

“No problem.” Raihan grinned. “Well, you’re in luck. We managed to track down the rest of the paparazzi and fans that slipped past security and promptly kicked them out when they were found. So, you two can be lovey dovey without being bombarded by them.”

“We’re not that lovey dovey...” Leon grumbled. “But, thank you, Raihan. Really.” He turned to Juliet with his hand outstretched to her. 

“May I have this dance, milady?”

Milady, huh. Leon really was playing the role of a prince to a T. It was endearing to say the least, as a result of his nature as an entertainer. He couldn’t help but add a bit more flair to his gestures because he was having fun and he wanted the other person to have fun too. 

And she loved playing along. 

“I’d be honoured.” She replied playfully, offering him a curtsy before putting her hand in his and following him to the centre of the ballroom. It was difficult to ignore how the eyes of the other attendees followed them, curiosity striking them as to who Leon was about to dance with. It made her nervous. She could potentially make them both look like fools on the dance floor because of her inexperience. 

But Leon gazed at her with a carefree smile and gently placed his hand on her hip. “Just follow my lead. We’re here to have fun, right?”

Her anxiety simmered down at his reassurance and she beamed back at him. “I’ll do my best! Sorry if I step on your feet in advance.”

Placing her hand on his shoulder, he whisked her into a slow waltz across the ballroom, guiding her patiently with carefully timed steps so she could pick up on the rhythm with the symphony. Leon tried not to laugh or to make a face that made it look like he was internally making fun of her, but there was something cute about how her eyes were glued to their feet and her eyebrows were furrowed in deep concentration. 

She was trying so hard.

“Look at me.”

Juliet lifted her head so her eyes were instead fixed on his. She grinned sheepishly. “I’m taking it too seriously, huh?”

Leon snorted. “A bit, which isn’t a bad thing. But, I want you to look at me while we’re dancing. Your partner isn’t the floor.”

“A little appreciation for the decor never hurt anyone.” She joked back. “But, you’re right. You’re a lot more attractive than the floor anyway.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” He laughed cheerfully. She giggled along with him, her posture relaxing considerably while gazing up at him tenderly. She let her steps be guided by the music, eventually synchronizing with his steps perfectly and making her feel more confident in her sense of rhythm. Seeing how her dancing slowly became less hesitant and clumsy, he shot her a smirk before unravelling her with their hands still linked and tugging her back so she twirled back into his arms. 

The look of bewilderment on her face made his face crack into a wide toothy smile.

“W-Whoa...” Juliet stuttered. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

He leaned in close, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “There’s more where that came from.”

Her heart raced. What exactly was he planning? And would she be able to keep up with him? To keep her on her toes, he didn’t delve into what he was about to do right away, giving her a false sense of security of resuming the comfortable pace of the waltz he sent before.

When he shot her a smirk, she knew.

Uh oh. 

Just like before, he unravelled her out, watching her twirl, but instead of letting her twirl back into his arms, he smoothly secured an arm around her waist, and dipped her low to the ground with a smug grin stretched across his handsome face.

Did she just let out a squeak? What else was she supposed to do?! He kept catching her off guard with his suaveness on the ballroom floor! Her face burned brightly and hearing the cheers and whistles from their friends and attendees didn’t help at all. 

Leon felt an immense feeling of satisfaction from rendering his beloved into a bit of a mess. Was she getting weak in the knees as well? Chuckling to himself and deciding that he had his fun, he gently pulled her back to her feet, only to hold her close when she leaned her weight against him.

Maybe he got a little carried away. 

“You OK?”

“Y-Yeah…” Juliet laughed shakily. “You weren’t kidding when you said you were something else on the dance floor.”

“Heh, thanks. You held your own pretty well too for your first time.”

She scratched the side of her cheek. “You think so? Thanks!” But she could really use a drink or something. And maybe even something to sit on to ease the weight from her feet. Juliet could practically feel her heels dig into feet painfully as the night dragged on. She regretted not choosing to wear flats, even if it meant she had to maintain her somewhat short stature. 

Seeing the grimace on her face as she shifted uncomfortably in her heels, “Here let me just,” Leon tucked his arms under her knees and effortlessly carried her to an empty chair by one of the dining tables, ignoring her weak protests to let her down and the curious eyes that followed them.

“Y-You didn’t have to carry me…”

“Your feet hurt, right? Think nothing of it, love.” He reassured her gently, bending down on one knee and gently loosening the straps of her white heels so he could shimmy them off. 

She smiled at that and tilted her head innocently. “Love?”

“Oh.” He blushed and looked at her shyly. “Do you not like it?”

“Quite the opposite! It felt...nice. Like I’m special.” 

“Well, you are special to me.”

Hearing that made her heart melt and only made her affection for him grow. What did she do to deserve such a sweet and considerate man like him? 

“Wait, here. I’ll go get us something to drink.” Leon snuck her a quick peck on the cheek before heading to the refreshment table. 

With her feet freed, she relaxed in her chair and felt herself slump from fatigue. They had even danced for that long, and yet some of the older attendees looked like they were just getting started as alcohol began to settle in their systems. Looking at the time on her phone, it was only 9 pm - still way too early to leave and call it a night. 

Well, the atmosphere wasn’t getting to her as much as she thought it would. It wasn’t like they were at a club and the booming bass was rattling her brain like a blender and turning it to mush. To calm her nerves, her eyes wandered over to the dancers on the dance floor - she giggled at how Hop was struggling not to step on Gloria’s foot for the 4th time, how Raihan practically towered over everyone he danced with (bonus points for how red Mary’s face was when dancing with him), and how Bea and Allister were practically tripping themselves over each other because of Bea’s inexperience and Allister’s shy nature. Everyone else was either chatting over drinks or stuffing themselves at the food and desserts table, which Juliet could hear Sonia fawning over from where she sat. 

Her shoulders relaxed considerably, remembering that all of their friends were here and enjoying the festivities rather than being surrounded by strangers. A part of her wished she had Leon’s adaptability for scenes like this, instead of quietly letting her anxiety build from the unfamiliarity. 

But, she wasn’t going to blame herself either. 

“Ahem, ma’am, please put your heels back on. It’s unbecoming of a lady to sit so...crudely.”

Crudely…? Unbecoming of a lady? Bold of them to assume that she cared about outdated norms like that-

Juliet turned her head to the culprit of the voice, immediately lowering her gaze in disbelief at the outlandish hairstyle that the man was sporting, along with whom she assumed was his brother, who sported an equally ridiculous hairdo as well. 

Honestly, that was all she could focus on, and she couldn’t take them seriously as a result. 

“Ummm...sorry. I was just giving my feet some time to rest. I’ll put them back on-” Juliet bent over to slip the accursed heels back onto her feet just to be polite, but her hands stopped when she caught one of the men scoffing and muttering under his breath.

“Women these days have no class. How did a slob like her get into an esteemed banquet like this?”

Her eyebrow twitched. Who the hell were this aristocratic assholes?

Part of her didn’t want to make a scene or give in to their provoking, but she already vowed to herself to not let anyone get away with making a slander of her name. She slipped her feet into her heels, strapped them up half-hazardly and purposely clicked her heel loudly when approaching them.

“Care to say that to my face?”

The men seemed surprised by her confrontation, but composed themselves back to their holier-than-thou attitudes. “We were merely speaking the truth. Alas, you’re just another commoner looking to leech off of the high life-style. “

Did these assholes get dropped off from the Victorian era or something? They were talking as if they were in an age where royalty reigned supreme. “Commoner? Why are you talking like you’re in Medieval times? Open your eyes and look around - times have changed and this is a celebration party. Not some snooty tea party where the only thing you aristocrats seem to care about is yourselves.”

“Excuse me?! Your foul mouth has no place here!”

Yeesh, someone has their pantaloons in a bunch. Juliet breathed deeply through her nose, keeping herself level-headed and calm while the two brothers were one or two shades closer to blowing their heads off. 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What’s going on here?” Gordie interjected, putting himself in-between Juliet and the two brothers. “Wait, a minute, who are you two? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you two at a Champion’s Banquet before-”

“How rude! You could do to learn some manners, and perhaps lose a few pounds while you’re at it-” The man in the blue tux retorted. 

Gordie’s eyebrow twitched at that. “What was that?! I’ll have you know that physical appearances doesn’t dictate one’s health and well-being. I’ll do a back-flip right now to show you how fit I really am-”

“Juliet, what’s happening over here?” Leon asked with concern, returning with a glass of wine for himself and a glass of punch for her. Juliet grumbled something under her breath before going to Leon’s side and pouting. 

“Some weirdos showed up and started to nag and insult me and now Gordie.”

“What?” Leon looked up to regard the aforementioned men, who were now being challenged by not just Gordie anymore, but the other Gym Leaders too. He pressed a finger to his temples, groaning at how this year’s Champion’s Banquet was more eventful for all the wrong reasons. Perhaps he would ask the Pokemon League to invest more in tighter security. 

“Hold my glass, J.” He gave her both of their glasses to hold while he went over to the group and pushed himself between the opposing groups. “Easy there, everyone. What seems to be the problem?”

“These guys are claiming to be descendants of the first Kings of Galar.” Kabu explained with a frown.

“Descendants?!” Leon looked between the two brothers who were definitely nicely dressed but it was hard not to look past their...wild hairstyles. He was no expert in discerning whether they were part of royalty or not, but he was a bit too tired to spend time dealing with them. Descendants or not, if they didn’t have an invitation to the banquet, they couldn’t stay. “Pardon me, gentlemen, but may I see your Champion’s Banquet invites?”

“Invites? Why would  _ we _ need invites?”

Oh boy, Leon grieved to himself. “If you don’t have invitations, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“You can’t do that-”

“Oh, yes, I can. Security!” Leon shouted, immediately grabbing the attention of at least five armed security guards and whisked the two brothers away, but not without them boasting of their supposed status and the like. 

“I’ve seen my fair share of weirdos but they were a whole different kind of weird.” Piers scoffed. “Noisy too.”

“Are you OK, Juliet? They didn’t hurt you, did they?” Melony asked, quickly looking over her just to make sure. 

“Don’t worry, they didn’t hurt me! They were more annoying than anything. I’m sorry for what they said to you Gordie. I think you look great!” Juliet comforted. Gordie huffed at his slightly wounded pride but shot her a small smile. 

“Thanks, Juliet. I could have dealt with that better.”

* * *

“Hey, Leon?”

“Yeah?”

“How do I word this…” Juliet thought out loud, taking sips of her punch in between her thoughts. There really was no way to phrase what she wanted to ask without putting him on the spot. It would put anyone on the spot really, but she wanted to ask because she thought a lot about her future ever since Cheren brought up the opportunity of being a teacher. “What are your plans for making your dream come true?”

“My dream...You mean my dream of making Galarian trainers the strongest in the world?” 

“Yeah...I don’t think I’ve mentioned it to you yet but Cheren told me I have the makings of a teacher so I’ve been thinking a lot about the future and what my new dream could be.”

“A teacher…” Leon’s face broke out into a huge grin. “I think you could be a great teacher! Galar doesn’t have any trainers schools like other regions, and because of how compassionate and inspiring you are, I think future trainers could learn a lot from you.”

Juliet blushed and smiled back at him. It warmed her heart that he was ready to support potential prospects so readily and eagerly. Then again, she promised she was going to do the exact thing for him, but it looked like he was getting a head start on it. She was still indecisive about the idea, but the more she was encouraged, the more she wanted to try. There wasn’t much to lose from trying, right? “You think so? I’m still thinking about it but I’m definitely more...excited about the idea.”

“And you should be! I know you wouldn’t try to be something that you knew you wouldn’t like.”

She giggled at that, knowing exactly what he meant because defying what her parents had wanted was what helped her get to this point of finding genuine happiness for herself. And she wasn’t going to stop following her heart. 

“As for me.” Leon braced his arms on the railing of the balcony. “I don’t have any immediate plans at the moment because there’s still a mess that Macro Cosmos left behind, but if all goes well, I do have my sights on transforming the Rose Tower into something else.”

“Whoa, you’re going to overthrow a whole conglomerate just like that?” Juliet joked. 

“That’s not what I meant.” He laughed. “I’ve been over-hearing what the Pokemon League has been saying about it and because of how closely they worked with them, they don’t think they can bounce back from this so they might end up dissolving completely.”

“No way…But, I suppose it’s for the best, right? It’s one thing for a company to make small mistakes but when their CEO was endangering everyone’s safety? I don’t blame the public for not being able to forgive them.”

“Exactly. So, if I can help it, I want to turn Rose Tower into something better. I want it to become a beacon of change and growth. Because, ironically, that’s kind of what it was in the business world.” Leon looked up to the starlit sky and reached his hand up, as if trying to reach for any star that was within his grasp. But they were far away, just like the road ahead. 

But no matter how far away they were, he was certain of another desire of his. “I want to work together with everyone to make Galar prosper for future generations.”

Juliet reached up and held her hand up next to his. Of course, her arm couldn’t reach as high as his, but what mattered was that she was right beside him. She regarded him warmly. “You already know you have my unconditional support.”

He gazed at her just as lovingly. “And you know you have me.” 

They curled their hands into fists and pumped them to the sky. “Let’s both fight for our future!”

Their mutual declaration lingered in the air for a moment until they both broke out into giggles and laughs. Even if the road ahead was bumpy and filled with twists and turns, it filled them both with hope knowing that they had each other to lean against to laugh off and smile through uncertainty. Because it was OK to laugh and cry even when life was hard. It wasn’t their mission to find out what the future had in store for them, but rather, to live and embrace what each day brought them. 

“Hey, you two!”

They turned their heads to see everyone crowded around the door leading out to the balcony they were on. 

“We’re about to take some group photos so come and join us!”

Juliet and Leon looked at each other and beamed brightly before turning back to the group. “We’re coming!”

And they knew that they were never going to be alone, because everyone else was going to be with them too. 

* * *

**THE TIES THAT BIND**

**-END-**

****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it folks!! This chapter marks the end of The Ties That Bind! It's been one hell of a ride and I still can't believe I managed to complete it from start to finish! I hardly planned for my fanfic to coincidentally end on New Year's Eve, but I think that makes it extra special!
> 
> Thank you so so much to everyone who has stuck around for this long. It means the absolute world to me that all of you have stuck around with me on this journey and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I have. I have plans for a sequel but depending how it goes, it'll probably be awhile before that's finished but I definitely want to continue writing for Juliet and Leon. At the very least, I'll probably have some one-shots in mind!
> 
> If you'd like to read more fanfics with Juliet and Leon (or as I'd like to call them 'TrueSmileShipping', I'm going to shout out the commissions I got from friends of one-shots for them so there's still plenty to indulge in if you haven't had your fill!
> 
> TMWolf: Bear in mind that all four fanfics that I've commissioned her are NSFW/Rated 18+ so you've been warned! The chapters that contain my commissions are 'Steam', 'Terms of Endearment', 'Strip Tease', and 'Feeling Nutty' - https://archiveofourown.org/works/27267022/chapters/66615955
> 
> shinyskarmorys: Seventeen Again - https://archiveofourown.org/works/27780574
> 
> Apharine: Baby, It's Cold Outside - https://archiveofourown.org/works/28252674/chapters/69233646  
> Let Me Be Your Strength - https://archiveofourown.org/works/27769996 (this was a gift!)
> 
> MaggyFinallyWrites: You'll Smile Again, Juliet - https://archiveofourown.org/works/27499417 (this was also a gift!)
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading 'The Ties That Bind' and please leave a kudos and or comment if you'd like. If you want to see what I'm up to, check out my Twitter @PigeonSenpai - but otherwise, I wish you guys the happiest of Happy New Years and I hope to see you all again soon!


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